Telligent Fund LP Sells 600 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• Telligent Fund LP reduced its position in Linde PLC by 8.3%, owning 6,600 shares after selling 600 during the 1st quarter, making Linde its 11th largest holding.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Linde, with the Public Sector Pension Investment Board notably raising its holdings by 106.1% during the same period.
• Linde recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50, with a yield of 1.3%, to be paid out to shareholders on September 18th.

Telligent Fund LP trimmed its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 8.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,600 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Linde comprises approximately 3.4% of Telligent Fund LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Telligent Fund LP's holdings in Linde were worth $3,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $2,128,233,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 1st quarter worth about $2,097,793,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 58,312.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,415,935 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,590,596,000 after acquiring an additional 3,410,087 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Linde by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,834,631,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957,604 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Linde by 172.4% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,407,637 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,121,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,702 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm's 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 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 480,543 shares in the company, 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 have sold 59,557 shares of company stock valued at $28,037,479. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LIN. UBS Group increased their price target on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $519.63.

Linde Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of LIN stock traded up $2.00 on Thursday, reaching $477.63. 1,545,422 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,084,753. The company has a market cap of $223.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.97, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average of $467.99 and a 200-day 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 one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.35 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The business's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.85 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share 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 given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.