Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 356 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $11,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter worth $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their position. The sale 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 company’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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This trade 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 Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $468.81 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $220.68 billion, a PE ratio of 34.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $463.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $453.04.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.75 EPS. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. Argus upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $518.80.

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.