Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Position Cut by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 269,777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,139 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.06% of Linde worth $118,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 566.9% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,833,465 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $851,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,558,538 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at $420,720,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Linde by 91.6% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 968,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $449,648,000 after purchasing an additional 463,096 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde during the 1st quarter valued at $210,480,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Linde by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,676,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,744,033,000 after purchasing an additional 405,952 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Trading Up 0.6 %

Linde stock opened at $471.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $225.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.61, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a one year low of $361.02 and a one year high of $479.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $458.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $449.38.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at $8,136,996. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $484.18.

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.