Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,072 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $9,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Linde by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,349 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,786,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in Linde during the second quarter valued at about $219,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Linde by 14.9% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 4,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,138,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in Linde by 3.2% during the second quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,695,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN traded down $3.80 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $441.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,619,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,984,381. The stock has a market cap of $212.39 billion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $439.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $440.48. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $361.02 and a 52 week high of $477.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.57 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LIN. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho upped their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $475.00 to $477.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.18.

Linde Company 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.