Community Financial Services Group LLC Has $6.93 Million Stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Community Financial Services Group LLC grew its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,878 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 1,077 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up about 1.5% of Community Financial Services Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Community Financial Services Group LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $6,928,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,901,853,000. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,128,233,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 58,312.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,410,087 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Linde by 34.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,957,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $468,360,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company's 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company's 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 sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $459.75 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business's 50 day moving average is $457.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $449.18. The company has a market cap of $216.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.97. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. Linde's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.75 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

About Linde

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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