Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Holdings Decreased by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc trimmed its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 20.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,794,517 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 455,384 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up approximately 5.0% of Impax Asset Management Group plc's holdings, making the stock its largest position. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned 0.38% of Linde worth $834,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its position in Linde by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,717 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 64.5% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 11,378 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,298,000 after purchasing an additional 4,462 shares during the last quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 10,304 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,798,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. increased its position in Linde by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 91,809 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $42,750,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Planning Partners Inc. raised its stake in Linde by 8.0% during the first quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 3,483 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,622,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,639 shares in the company, 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.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN traded down $1.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $475.83. The stock had a trading volume of 952,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,968,152. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $461.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $451.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.98 billion, a PE ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.96.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.75 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Linde's payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

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.