Ramirez Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 13.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,526 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,143 shares during the period. Ramirez Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $3,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.
Linde Trading Down 0.5%
LIN traded down $2.34 on Friday, hitting $457.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,381,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,122,465. The company has a market cap of $215.55 billion, a PE ratio of 33.26, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.96. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $467.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $457.33.
Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The firm's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.
Linde Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's payout ratio is currently 43.57%.
Insider Activity at Linde
In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms have weighed in on LIN. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $518.80.
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Linde Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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