Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Position Reduced by Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA

Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA lowered its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises approximately 3.7% of Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA’s holdings in Linde were worth $7,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $2,901,853,000. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,128,233,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 58,312.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,415,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,590,596,000 after purchasing an additional 3,410,087 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Linde by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,834,631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,604 shares during the period. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $468,360,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.11.

Linde Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Linde stock opened at $464.57 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.13, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $451.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $447.86.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.75 EPS. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

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

Linde Company 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.