Brighton Jones LLC Sells 2,074 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Brighton Jones LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 31.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,498 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,074 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $2,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $2,901,853,000. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,128,233,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 58,312.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,415,935 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,590,596,000 after acquiring an additional 3,410,087 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Linde by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,834,631,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $468,360,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.40.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $465.98 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $455.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $449.01. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. Linde's payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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