Canoe Financial LP Reduces Holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Canoe Financial LP decreased its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 12.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 34,138 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 4,700 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP's holdings in Linde were worth $15,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $88,505,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 168,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $70,337,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its position in Linde by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 7,788 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,261,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Linde by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 138,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $57,986,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in Linde by 300.3% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 26,150 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $10,948,000 after buying an additional 19,618 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of LIN stock opened at $455.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $214.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $457.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $449.17. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LIN. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.40.

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.

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