Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 638 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its position 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. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the second quarter worth about $33,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on LIN shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. 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 raised their price target on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $484.18.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $471.91 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $458.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $449.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.61, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $361.02 and a 52 week high of $479.79.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

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.