Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Trims Holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. cut its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,384 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,434 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $16,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake 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 buying an additional 2,957,604 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,598,551,000 after acquiring an additional 30,750 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Linde by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,857,741,000 after acquiring an additional 554,480 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $2,901,853,000. Finally, Freemont Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $2,128,233,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock traded down $2.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $455.86. The company had a trading volume of 4,363,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,976,795. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $457.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $449.17. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49. 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 company has a market capitalization of $214.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde 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 now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were 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 now owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.40.

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.