Winslow Asset Management Inc. Sells 482 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Winslow Asset Management Inc. cut its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,398 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 482 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up approximately 1.8% of Winslow Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Winslow Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $8,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 17.2% in the first quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,420,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 13.3% during the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 51,854 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,078 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Linde by 2.7% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 49,433 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,018,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289 shares during the last quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the first quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the first quarter worth about $296,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $468.78 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $463.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $453.36. The firm has a market cap of $220.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.96. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.75 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $518.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business’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 value of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.