Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $25.31 Million Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,535 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $25,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Linde by 566.9% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,833,465 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $851,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,558,538 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at $420,720,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Linde by 47,830.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $446,377,000 after purchasing an additional 934,123 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Linde by 91.6% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 968,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $449,648,000 after purchasing an additional 463,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Linde during the first quarter worth $210,480,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $473.76 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $226.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day moving average is $472.24 and its 200 day moving average is $451.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.95. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $366.12 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America raised their target price on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.18.

Linde Company 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.