Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 60,271 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 8.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 749,185 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 60,271 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for about 0.5% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Linde were worth $348,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategy Asset Managers LLC grew its position in Linde by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 834 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Linde by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 999 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Linde by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. grew its position in Linde by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 816 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Rockingstone Advisors LLC grew its position in Linde by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total value of $23,815,274.42. Following the transaction, the director owned 480,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,557 shares of company stock worth $28,037,479 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $470.38 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $467.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $459.22. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $220.57 billion, a PE ratio of 33.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on LIN. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.63.

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.