Park Edge Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Park Edge Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 40.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,763 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,221 shares during the period. Park Edge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 47,830.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $446,377,000 after purchasing an additional 934,123 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 2,293.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $327,593,000 after purchasing an additional 749,763 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in Linde by 108.7% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Linde by 131.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $296,342,000 after buying an additional 353,136 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $439.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $435.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $453.05. The firm has a market cap of $209.15 billion, a PE ratio of 33.35, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

About Linde

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.