Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 60,017 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Intech Investment Management LLC cut its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 77.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,098 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 60,017 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $7,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. First Pacific Financial acquired a new position in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Linde by 44.4% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 310.0% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. HSBC dropped their price objective on Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho boosted 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $464.25.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock traded down $1.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $444.75. 1,503,763 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,609,324. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $361.02 and a 52 week high of $477.71. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $436.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $436.82.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. Linde’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.42 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. 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.