Smithfield Trust Co Sells 565 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• Smithfield Trust Co has reduced its stake in Linde PLC by 11.1%, holding 4,503 shares valued at approximately $2,097,000 post-sale.
• Several institutional investors, including Scotia Capital Inc. and Banco Santander S.A., have recently increased their holdings in Linde, reflecting strong interest in the company.
• Linde's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $4.09, exceeding analysts' expectations, along with a dividend announcement of $1.50 per share set for September 18th.

Smithfield Trust Co lowered its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 11.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,503 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 565 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co's holdings in Linde were worth $2,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in Linde during the first quarter worth $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $518.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the 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 directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $2.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $469.51. 339,859 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,112,820. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $467.32 and a 200 day moving average of $458.15.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.85 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.