Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC Lowers Stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC sold 13,080 shares of Linde PLC, reducing its stake by 2.7%, making Linde its biggest holding at approximately 7.0% of their investment portfolio.
• Linde recently reported earnings per share of $4.09 for the quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $4.03, with a revenue of $8.50 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, representing an annual yield of **1.3%**, with the ex-dividend date set for September 4th.

Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC lessened its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 476,435 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 13,080 shares during the period. Linde comprises about 7.0% of Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC owned 0.10% of Linde worth $221,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 34.4% in the 4th 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 period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Linde by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,857,741,000 after purchasing an additional 554,480 shares during the period. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd bought a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,128,233,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Linde by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,925,322 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,062,085,000 after buying an additional 500,489 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Linde by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,812,461 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,596,163,000 after buying an additional 12,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde 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 transaction of $908,138.48. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total transaction of $23,815,274.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 480,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. The trade was a 9.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 59,557 shares of company stock valued at $28,037,479. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research 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 for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $519.63.

Linde Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $2.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $472.42. 939,239 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,504,921. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $467.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $458.87. The stock has a market cap of $221.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.60, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.92. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.85 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.67%.

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.