AXS Investments LLC Sells 71 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

AXS Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 71 shares during the period. AXS Investments LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $410,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $260,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 1,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $506,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI grew its stake in Linde by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,694 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Callan Capital LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $435.57 on Friday. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $350.60 and a 52-week high of $477.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.37 billion, a PE ratio of 33.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $446.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $428.72.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Mizuho upped their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $468.83.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total transaction of $23,353,139.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,271,882.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,948 shares of company stock valued at $35,687,605 in the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.