Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stake Reduced by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 71.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 17,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 43,109 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $7,199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,480,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,045,000. Finally, Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd boosted its holdings in Linde by 156.3% during the fourth quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 10,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,146,000 after buying an additional 6,172 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $423.60 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $455.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $422.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $350.60 and a 12-month high of $477.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LIN. UBS Group downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Six 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $460.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.