Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC Trims Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 28 shares during the period. Linde comprises approximately 1.8% of Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $8,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 44.4% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $471.91 on Monday. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $361.02 and a 52-week high of $479.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $458.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $449.20. The company has a market cap of $226.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup upped their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned 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 $484.18.

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.