R Squared Ltd Has $689,000 Stock Position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• R Squared Ltd significantly reduced its stake in Linde PLC by 73.9% during the first quarter, now holding 1,480 shares valued at approximately $689,000, making it the company's 28th largest investment.
• Linde PLC reported quarterly earnings of $4.09 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $8.50 billion, marking a 2.3% increase compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, leading to an annualized payout of $6.00 and a yield of 1.3% for shareholders.

R Squared Ltd decreased its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 73.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,480 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 4,201 shares during the period. Linde accounts for about 0.7% of R Squared Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. R Squared Ltd's holdings in Linde were worth $689,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in Linde by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN traded up $7.99 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $467.40. 1,684,648 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,592,214. 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 $220.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.92. The business's 50-day moving average price is $467.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $457.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.85 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde's payout ratio is presently 42.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $518.30.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, 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 hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, 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.

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.