Congress Asset Management Co. Has $18.02 Million Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Congress Asset Management Co. reduced its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 38,688 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 670 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Linde were worth $18,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.11.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $472.71 on Friday. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.52 billion, a PE ratio of 34.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $452.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $448.54.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.57%.

Linde Company 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.