Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 249,163 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 31.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 533,298 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 249,163 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.11% of Linde worth $248,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Rockingstone Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 0.3% during the first quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Linde by 105.2% during the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 829 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 32.1% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 2,594 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,208,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,063 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,892,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 201,830 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $93,980,000 after buying an additional 587 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, 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. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ LIN traded up $2.56 on Thursday, hitting $471.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 627,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,257,032. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $221.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.61, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $453.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $448.95. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.75 EPS. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Linde's payout ratio is 43.57%.

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.