Park Avenue Securities LLC Has $10.32 Million Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 22,167 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $10,322,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $88,505,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Linde by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 168,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $70,337,000 after acquiring an additional 13,000 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 7,788 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,261,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Linde by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 138,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $57,986,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 300.3% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 26,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,948,000 after acquiring an additional 19,618 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on LIN. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock opened at $472.71 on Friday. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $452.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $448.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.75 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

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.