DAVENPORT & Co LLC Raises Holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 145.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,934 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 18,323 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $14,404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings 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 worth $88,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. boosted its stake in Linde by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 168,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $70,337,000 after purchasing an additional 13,000 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its stake 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 period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Linde by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 138,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $57,986,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 300.3% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 26,150 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,948,000 after buying an additional 19,618 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of 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 report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $515.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $1.34 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $475.83. The company had a trading volume of 952,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,968,152. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $223.98 billion, a PE ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.96. 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 price is $460.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $450.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.75 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

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.