22,009 Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Bought by Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 22,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,489,000. Linde comprises 0.6% of Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Linde by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 1.7% in the third quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.9% during the third quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Linde by 1.3% during the third quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 5.7% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $454.78 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $468.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $453.66. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $216.55 billion, a PE ratio of 34.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. This trade represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.75.

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.