King Luther Capital Management Corp Makes New $236.68 Million Investment in Linde PLC $LIN

King Luther Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 498,633 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,676,000. Linde makes up about 1.0% of King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board bought a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at about $11,076,000. Bingham Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 3.5% in the third quarter. Bingham Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in shares of Linde by 14.0% in the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 28,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,462,000 after buying an additional 3,475 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Linde by 13.7% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,928,000 after buying an additional 995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $764,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus lowered their price objective on Linde from $563.00 to $538.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 28th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Linde from $560.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on Linde from $577.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on Linde from $532.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, October 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.05.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $526.55 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $488.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $495.50. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $548.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $241.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.67.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.07. Linde had a net margin of 19.34% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The business had revenue of $9.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.89 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.52%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.91, for a total value of $4,851,808.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,487,629.58. This trade represents a 29.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Matthew J. White sold 86,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.21, for a total value of $45,258,227.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 50,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,442,546.93. This represents a 63.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Linde Company Profile

Linde plc is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and supplies atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium and specialty gases. The company also designs and builds equipment and facilities used to produce and process gases. Linde serves customers across industries including healthcare, manufacturing, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics and energy. Its operations span the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific.