Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Linde by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in Linde by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Holderness Investments Co. lifted its position in Linde by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 1,863 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $765,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 2,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $432.94 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $435.05 and a 200 day moving average of $434.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $358.37 and a 12-month high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on LIN. Citigroup cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $468.83.

About Linde

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South Pacific. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene.