Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Position Cut by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. decreased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 38,688 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 670 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Linde were worth $18,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LIN. Impact Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,426,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 5.2% during the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 11,300 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,262,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the first quarter worth about $224,000. Affinity Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 1.2% in the first quarter. Affinity Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,045 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,143,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at about $263,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $472.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,616,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,964,278. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $452.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $448.51. The firm has a market cap of $222.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.69, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company'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 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the sale, the vice president now 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $503.11.

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.