Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Buys New Position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 11,836 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,509,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in Linde by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Linde by 2.5% during the first quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 999 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Linde by 0.8% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. raised its holdings in Linde by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 816 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockingstone Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,883,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $467.46 on Tuesday. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $466.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $456.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.96.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.75 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Argus raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $518.80.

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.