Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• Mutual of America Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Linde PLC by 2.9%, holding 55,366 shares after selling 1,669 shares during the first quarter.
• Multiple brokerages have upgraded Linde's stock ratings, with Citigroup increasing its price target from $500 to $535 and maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Linde announced a $1.50 quarterly dividend with an annualized yield of 1.3%, to be paid on September 18th to investors of record on September 4th.

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,366 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,669 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $25,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rockingstone Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,883,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 20.2% during the first quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Linde by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,448 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,700,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Stonebrook Private Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 527 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division raised its stake in Linde by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 505 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business'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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total value of $23,815,274.42. Following the transaction, the director owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 59,557 shares of company stock worth $28,037,479. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded up $2.99 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. 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 PLC has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $467.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $458.76. The company has a market capitalization of $221.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.92.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.85 EPS. Linde's revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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