Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 480 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,345 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 480 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Retirement Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the first quarter worth $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Linde by 44.4% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $463.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $221.43 billion, a PE ratio of 35.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $361.02 and a 1 year high of $479.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $452.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $448.24.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.57 EPS. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on LIN shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup boosted 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. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $484.18.

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.