Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA's 9th Largest Position

Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA reduced its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 491,617 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 16,929 shares during the period. Linde makes up about 2.8% of Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA owned approximately 0.10% of Linde worth $228,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LIN. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.40.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated 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 sale 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 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 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. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN traded down $4.55 on Friday, reaching $465.98. 1,414,599 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,968,387. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $455.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $449.12. The firm has a market cap of $219.35 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 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 posted its quarterly 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 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 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.75 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.