AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 10,069 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

AQR Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 129,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,069 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $56,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Group LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Linde during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 49.0% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $479.51 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $461.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $449.89. The stock has a market cap of $230.49 billion, a PE ratio of 37.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $361.02 and a 12 month high of $483.36.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on LIN. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.18.

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.