Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lowered its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 57,838 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 546 shares during the period. Linde makes up approximately 2.0% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Linde were worth $26,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 44.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $575,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $951,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Holderness Investments Co. raised its position 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 worth $765,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.2% during the third quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $438.11. The stock had a trading volume of 537,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,057,907. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $435.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $433.60. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $358.37 and a 52 week high of $477.71. The company has a market capitalization of $210.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. Linde’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $468.83.

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.