Valmark Advisers Inc. Purchases 27 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Retirement Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $474.66 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $472.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $451.55. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $373.69 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.65 billion, a PE ratio of 36.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, August 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.18.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Company 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.