Brookstone Capital Management Sells 480 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Brookstone Capital Management lowered its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 8.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,010 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 480 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morningstar Investment Services LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter valued at about $240,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 20,535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,646,000 after buying an additional 3,517 shares during the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $685,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,468,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association grew its holdings in Linde by 8.9% in the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 12,990 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,837,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. UBS Group lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. HSBC lowered their price target on Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $468.83.

Linde Trading Up 0.4 %

Linde stock opened at $440.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $211.60 billion, a PE ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.95. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $358.37 and a 12 month high of $477.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $435.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $433.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.13%.

About Linde

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.