Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Forbes J M & Co. LLP

Forbes J M & Co. LLP trimmed its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up 1.7% of Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s holdings in Linde were worth $17,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Linde by 16.9% during the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Linde by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $830,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $652,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, CNB Bank lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.9% during the first quarter. CNB Bank now owns 847 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN traded up $2.75 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $476.51. The stock had a trading volume of 222,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,816,958. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $472.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $451.20. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $373.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $227.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 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.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.30 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.57 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on LIN. UBS Group dropped their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.