Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Alpha Family Trust

Alpha Family Trust lowered its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 31.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 825 shares during the quarter. Alpha Family Trust’s holdings in Linde were worth $861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of Linde stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The trade was a 36.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $449.10 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $470.08 and its 200-day moving average is $452.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.84 billion, a PE ratio of 34.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $396.07 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on LIN. Barclays lifted their target price on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.75.

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.