Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by STF Management LP

STF Management LP trimmed its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,676 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 368 shares during the period. Linde comprises about 1.4% of STF Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. STF Management LP’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Members Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 1.3% in the first quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $830,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 44.4% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 49.0% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank increased its position in shares of Linde by 2.9% during the first quarter. CNB Bank now owns 847 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $484.18.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock opened at $468.81 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $223.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.37, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $454.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $448.66. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $361.02 and a fifty-two week high of $479.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.57 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Company 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.