Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Trims Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 31.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 533,298 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 249,163 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Linde were worth $248,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,351,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Linde by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,164 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN stock opened at $475.56 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $452.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $448.82. The stock has a market cap of $223.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.75 EPS. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm’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 sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.