1,086 Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Acquired by Vicus Capital

Vicus Capital acquired a new position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,086 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth $3,066,825,000. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 104.2% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,679 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,672,000 after acquiring an additional 468,415 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 33,201.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 411,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $169,189,000 after acquiring an additional 410,705 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter worth $171,607,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,282,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $526,743,000 after acquiring an additional 347,531 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

LIN traded down $1.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $438.81. 2,470,164 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,763,077. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Linde plc has a one year low of $358.37 and a one year high of $477.71. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $435.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $433.91.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.38 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.51 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Mizuho increased their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. HSBC cut their price objective on Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $468.83.

About Linde

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.