State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 101,483 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 36.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 177,498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 101,483 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Linde were worth $77,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $465.11 on Thursday. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $361.02 and a 12 month high of $479.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.08, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $453.18 and a 200-day moving average of $448.35.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at $8,136,996. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group decreased 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. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.