Machina Capital S.A.S. Takes Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $400,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Linde by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $951,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Linde by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Seven Mile Advisory grew its stake in Linde by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. grew its holdings in Linde by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 2,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $3.02 during trading on Monday, reaching $426.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,533,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,225,953. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $350.60 and a 52 week high of $477.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $205.07 billion, a PE ratio of 33.10, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $455.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $423.74.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, HSBC lowered their target price on shares of Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $464.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total transaction of $3,837,704.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,398 shares in the company, valued at $26,058,131.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total transaction of $3,837,704.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,058,131.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 in the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.