Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can trimmed its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,168,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 14,294 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.24% of Linde worth $515,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Retirement Group LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Linde by 44.4% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN stock opened at $471.91 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $458.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $449.20. The company 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 quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $361.02 and a fifty-two week high of $479.79.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on LIN. Bank of America lifted their target price on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.18.

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 value of $4,639,068.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at $8,136,996. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company 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.