Naples Global Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Naples Global Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,195 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 142 shares during the quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in Linde by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 5,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,394,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Linde by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,100,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Finally, Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. boosted its position in Linde by 85.2% in the fourth quarter. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $473.77 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $452.28 and its 200 day moving average is $448.21. The company has a market cap of $223.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.81, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.