Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Decreases Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC cut its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 57,838 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 546 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises approximately 2.0% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Linde were worth $26,855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,066,825,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Linde by 104.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,679 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,672,000 after acquiring an additional 468,415 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 33,201.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 411,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $169,189,000 after acquiring an additional 410,705 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 1st quarter worth approximately $171,607,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Linde by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,282,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $526,743,000 after purchasing an additional 347,531 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Citigroup lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $468.83.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading 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 is $435.99 and its 200 day moving average is $433.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.95. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $358.37 and a twelve month high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were given a $1.39 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

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.