Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Lowers Stock Holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in Linde PLC by 13.4% during the first quarter, now owning shares valued at approximately $10.46 million.
• Linde recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, with an annual yield of 1.3%, to be distributed on September 18.
• Several analysts have upgraded Linde's rating, and the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" with an average price target of $519.63.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 13.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,469 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,464 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Linde were worth $10,462,000 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 the company. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 34.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,957,604 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Linde by 6.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth $2,128,233,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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 worth $2,062,085,000 after purchasing an additional 500,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings 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 worth $1,596,163,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on LIN. UBS Group increased their price objective on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $519.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,557 shares of company stock worth $28,037,479 in the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Trading Up 0.6%

Linde stock traded up $2.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $472.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 939,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,504,921. Linde PLC has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $221.52 billion, a PE ratio of 33.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $467.81 and a 200-day moving average of $458.76. 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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.85 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is 42.67%.

About Linde

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.