Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Sells 10,136 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• Gulf International Bank UK Ltd reduced its holdings in Linde PLC by 27.1%, selling 10,136 shares during the first quarter, with remaining shares valued at $12.68 million.
• Recent transactions saw Linde's Director sell 50,309 shares totaling approximately $23.82 million, while insiders have sold a total of 59,557 shares worth $28 million in the last quarter.
• Analyst forecasts are optimistic, with multiple upgrades indicating a consensus target price of $519.63 and an overall rating of "Buy" for Linde shares.

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd decreased its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 27.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 27,247 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 10,136 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd's holdings in Linde were worth $12,687,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategy Asset Managers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 834 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 999 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,207 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 816 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockingstone Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $519.63.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total transaction of $23,815,274.42. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 480,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock traded up $2.45 on Friday, reaching $480.08. 1,951,307 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,083,887. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $468.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $459.69. The stock has a market cap of $225.11 billion, a PE ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.67%.

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.