Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Choreo LLC

Choreo LLC reduced its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 9.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,541 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,661 shares during the period. Choreo LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $7,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in Linde by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Linde by 2.5% during the first quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 999 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Linde by 0.8% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,207 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,493,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Rockingstone Advisors LLC grew its position in Linde by 0.3% during the first quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,883,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Linde by 20.2% during the first quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Trading Up 0.3%

LIN stock traded up $1.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $472.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,212,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,547,221. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $466.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $456.27. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.34, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.96.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm posted $3.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LIN. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. Citigroup upgraded shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $518.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.