Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Position Lessened by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 8.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 159,955 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 15,522 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Linde were worth $74,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 7,788 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,261,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. AlTi Global Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $971,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 75.0% in the first quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 193,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $90,131,000 after buying an additional 82,952 shares during the period. Freedom Day Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 9.6% in the first quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC now owns 6,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,841,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the period. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $468,360,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $477.63 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $468.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $459.69. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.97 billion, a PE ratio of 33.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.92.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.85 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $519.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owned 480,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% 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.

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.