Headlands Technologies LLC Makes New Investment in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,616,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LIN. North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Up 0.3%

LIN stock opened at $471.48 on Thursday. Linde PLC has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $221.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $467.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $458.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.67%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $519.63.

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.