Rhumbline Advisers Reduces Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Rhumbline Advisers decreased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 866,034 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 11,733 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.18% of Linde worth $403,260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Linde by 34.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,598,551,000 after purchasing an additional 30,750 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Linde by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,857,741,000 after buying an additional 554,480 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth $2,901,853,000. Finally, Freemont Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,128,233,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $473.24. 525,678 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,959,674. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.76 billion, a PE ratio of 34.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company's 50-day moving average is $452.28 and its 200 day moving average is $448.21.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.75 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.11.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.