Praxis Investment Management Inc. Cuts Position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Praxis Investment Management Inc. cut its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 10.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,344 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,300 shares during the period. Linde accounts for approximately 0.6% of Praxis Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Praxis Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $9,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Linde by 0.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Linde by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 168,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $70,337,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 4.5% during the fourth 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. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Linde by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 138,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $57,986,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 300.3% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 26,150 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $10,948,000 after acquiring an additional 19,618 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded up $3.89 on Monday, reaching $459.75. 1,610,534 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,967,053. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.41 billion, a PE ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $457.70 and a 200 day moving average of $449.11. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.40.

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.