Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Holdings Decreased by Premier Fund Managers Ltd

Key Points

• Premier Fund Managers Ltd reduced its stake in Linde PLC by 1.5%, selling 704 shares, and now owns 47,755 shares valued at approximately $21.9 million.
• Insider selling occurred as VP David P. Strauss and VP Sean Durbin sold significant portions of their shares, with decreases of 8.07% and 47.11% in their holdings, respectively.
• Linde reported $3.95 EPS for the latest quarter, beating analyst expectations, and has a current average rating of "Buy" from analysts with a price target of around $518.80.

Premier Fund Managers Ltd cut its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,755 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 704 shares during the quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd's holdings in Linde were worth $21,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LIN. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $518.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde 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 owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of LIN stock traded down $1.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $458.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,520,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,123,014. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $467.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $457.33. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.93 billion, a PE ratio of 33.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.96.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.85 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. 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 payout ratio is 43.57%.

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.