Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Holdings Lowered by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC reduced its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 9.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,775 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,153 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $9,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A acquired a new stake 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 Stock Down 0.3 %

LIN stock traded down $1.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $468.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,131,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,860,692. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $225.04 billion, a PE ratio of 36.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $361.02 and a 12 month high of $483.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $464.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $449.97.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.30 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.57 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, August 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six 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, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.