Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Reliant Investment Management LLC

Reliant Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,299 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 222 shares during the period. Linde makes up approximately 3.9% of Reliant Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Reliant Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $8,249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 35,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,635,000 after acquiring an additional 2,770 shares in the last quarter. Symmetry Investments LP purchased a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $490,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $530,000. Putnam Investments LLC increased its stake in Linde by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 481,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $197,646,000 after buying an additional 21,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mango Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,659,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $469.44 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $225.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $464.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $449.71. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $361.02 and a 1 year high of $483.36.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on LIN. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $484.18.

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.