Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. Trims Stock Position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. lessened its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 28.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,514 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,006 shares during the quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $1,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in shares of Linde by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $88,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 168,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $70,337,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 7,788 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,261,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in Linde by 300.3% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 26,150 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $10,948,000 after buying an additional 19,618 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in shares of Linde by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,235 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,287,000 after acquiring an additional 4,162 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded down $5.99 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $469.59. 2,099,467 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,970,552. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $461.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $451.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.94. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This trade represents 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 currently owned by company 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.