V Square Quantitative Management LLC Has $4.49 Million Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,412 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the period. Linde comprises 0.7% of V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted 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 valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $830,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 1.7% in the third quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $652,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Linde by 49.0% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded down $3.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $483.05. 287,437 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,827,960. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $361.02 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.66 billion, a PE ratio of 36.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $468.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $450.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.57 earnings per share. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.31%.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at $8,136,996. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.18.

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.