Park Edge Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 56.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 762 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,001 shares during the period. Park Edge Advisors LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,901,853,000. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,128,233,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 58,312.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,415,935 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,590,596,000 after purchasing an additional 3,410,087 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Linde by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,834,631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $468,360,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Linde Stock Down 0.7%
Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $3.51 during trading on Thursday, hitting $470.26. The stock had a trading volume of 1,678,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,964,110. The company has a market capitalization of $221.36 billion, a PE ratio of 34.55, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm's fifty day moving average is $452.28 and its 200 day moving average is $448.21. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49.
Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Linde's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.75 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Linde Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.57%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. 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, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.11.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on LIN
Insider Buying and Selling at Linde
In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% 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 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.
About Linde
(
Free Report)
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.
Read More
Before you consider Linde, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Linde wasn't on the list.
While Linde currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Learn the basics of options trading and how to use them to boost returns and manage risk with this free report from MarketBeat. Click the link below to get your free copy.
Get This Free Report
