Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Zevin Asset Management LLC

Zevin Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,388 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,322 shares during the period. Linde accounts for approximately 2.8% of Zevin Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Zevin Asset Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $17,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,957,604 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $4,598,551,000 after acquiring an additional 30,750 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Linde by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,857,741,000 after buying an additional 554,480 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $2,901,853,000. Finally, Freemont Capital Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $2,128,233,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Argus raised 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 lifted their target price for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $518.80.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock traded up $1.52 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $471.95. The company had a trading volume of 592,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,971,137. The company has a market capitalization of $222.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $464.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.60.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.75 EPS. The firm's revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Linde 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Linde 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.

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