Nelson Capital Management LLC Buys 8,342 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Nelson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,342 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,960,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID grew its position in Linde by 96.6% during the first quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 57 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in Linde by 74.2% during the second quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 54 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Polaris Financial Partners purchased a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth about $31,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on LIN shares. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $515.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Linde from $535.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Linde from $560.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $574.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $553.05.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN traded up $3.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $526.06. The stock had a trading volume of 1,250,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,091,660. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $548.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $490.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $496.20. The firm has a market cap of $241.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.95, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.67.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $9.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.16 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 19.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.21 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.89 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.52%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.91, for a total transaction of $4,851,808.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $11,487,629.58. This trade represents a 29.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Matthew J. White sold 86,833 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.21, for a total transaction of $45,258,227.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 50,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,442,546.93. The trade was a 63.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Linde

Linde plc is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and supplies atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium and specialty gases. The company also designs and builds equipment and facilities used to produce and process gases. Linde serves customers across industries including healthcare, manufacturing, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics and energy. Its operations span the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific.