MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 12.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 534 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up about 1.6% of MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $1,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LIN. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of LIN stock opened at $469.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $462.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $451.89. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is 43.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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 target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.90.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was 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 owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm'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 value of $908,138.48. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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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