Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by NatWest Group plc

NatWest Group plc trimmed its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 73.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,079 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,988 shares during the quarter. NatWest Group plc’s holdings in Linde were worth $515,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the first quarter worth $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Linde by 49.0% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Linde during the second quarter worth about $42,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America raised their target price on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six investment 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock opened at $486.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $361.02 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $233.64 billion, a PE ratio of 37.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average is $468.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $450.50.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.