Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stake Trimmed by Jackson Square Capital LLC

Jackson Square Capital LLC lowered its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 464 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up 1.6% of Jackson Square Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Jackson Square Capital LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,000,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on LIN. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Argus raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.40.

Linde Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $465.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $219.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $455.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $449.12. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.57%.

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.