23,336 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN Purchased by New Mexico Educational Retirement Board

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board acquired a new position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 23,336 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bingham Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 3.5% in the third quarter. Bingham Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 28,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,462,000 after purchasing an additional 3,475 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Linde by 13.7% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,928,000 after buying an additional 995 shares during the last quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at about $764,000. Finally, NBH Bank grew its position in Linde by 46.6% during the third quarter. NBH Bank now owns 799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $526.55 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $488.62 and its 200-day moving average is $495.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $241.73 billion, a PE ratio of 34.99, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.67. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $548.20.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be given a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 86,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.21, for a total transaction of $45,258,227.93. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 50,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,442,546.93. This represents a 63.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Berenberg Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Linde from $560.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Linde from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on Linde from $577.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Linde from $574.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $553.05.

Linde Profile

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.