Diversify Advisory Services LLC Reduces Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC decreased its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 11.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 143 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,961 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 114.0% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,784 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,712,000 after acquiring an additional 4,147 shares in the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 716.5% in the 3rd quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,675 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,706,000 after acquiring an additional 4,980 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 35,458 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,823,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC now owns 28,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,746,000 after acquiring an additional 12,714 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $484.18.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $473.40 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $473.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $451.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $376.70 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $226.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.03, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.57 EPS. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.31%.

Linde Profile

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.