SJS Investment Consulting Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

SJS Investment Consulting Inc. trimmed its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 27.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 33 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $37,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,973,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,217,197,000 after acquiring an additional 154,792 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Linde by 372.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,567,958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,592,682 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 1.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,015,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,438,154,000 after purchasing an additional 50,882 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in Linde by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,130,986,000 after purchasing an additional 56,775 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Linde by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $898,188,000 after buying an additional 46,843 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $439.25 on Friday. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $396.07 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $435.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $453.05. The company has a market capitalization of $209.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.63 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

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.