HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 8,873 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Linde PLC by 2.7%, selling 8,873 shares and holding 318,563 shares valued at approximately $148.33 million.
• Insiders have sold a total of 59,557 shares of Linde stock recently, with VP David P. Strauss and VP Sean Durbin both decreasing their positions significantly in May.
• Linde announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, with an expected yield of 1.3%, to be paid on September 18th to stockholders of record on September 4th.

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 318,563 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 8,873 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Linde worth $148,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in Linde during the first quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded up $2.00 during trading on Thursday, reaching $477.63. 1,545,422 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,084,753. The company has a market capitalization of $223.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $467.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $459.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.85 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. 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 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on LIN. Citigroup raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $519.63.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total transaction of $23,815,274.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 480,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. The trade was a 9.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 59,557 shares of company stock valued at $28,037,479. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Company 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.