MCF Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

MCF Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 30.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 99 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 44 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $46,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Linde by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 310.0% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 347.6% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $438.81 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $435.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $433.91. 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 has a market capitalization of $210.93 billion, a PE ratio of 34.04, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.95. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $358.37 and a 1-year high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.42 EPS. Linde’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 43.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.