Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Position Cut by Norris Perne & French LLP MI

Norris Perne & French LLP MI reduced its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,258 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for about 2.8% of Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in Linde were worth $38,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LIN. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Linde by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Holderness Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 1,863 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $765,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. increased its position in Linde by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 2,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.3 %

Linde stock traded down $1.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $438.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,470,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,763,077. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $435.71 and its 200 day moving average is $433.86. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $358.37 and a 52-week high of $477.71. The company has a market cap of $210.93 billion, a PE ratio of 34.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.38 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Citigroup cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $468.83.

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.