Linde PLC $LIN Stock: Machina Capital S.A.S. Decreases Holdings

Machina Capital S.A.S. trimmed its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 31.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,453 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,553,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Linde by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,344,181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,558,016,000 after purchasing an additional 719,052 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in shares of Linde by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,162,409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,567,796,000 after purchasing an additional 373,012 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Linde by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,740,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,358,712,000 after purchasing an additional 64,078 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Linde by 28.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,624,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $805,475,000 after purchasing an additional 361,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 6.6% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,370,361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $679,370,000 after purchasing an additional 85,360 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LIN. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $532.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, October 5th. DZ Bank reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Argus lowered their price objective on Linde from $563.00 to $538.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Linde from $560.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $553.05.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.91, for a total transaction of $4,851,808.50. Following the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,487,629.58. This trade represents a 29.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Matthew White sold 86,833 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.21, for a total transaction of $45,258,227.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 50,733 shares in the company, valued at $26,442,546.93. This trade represents a 63.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.9%

LIN stock opened at $526.55 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $241.73 billion, a PE ratio of 34.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $488.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $495.50. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $548.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $9.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.16 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.34% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.52%.

Linde Company Profile

Linde plc is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and supplies atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium and specialty gases. The company also designs and builds equipment and facilities used to produce and process gases. Linde serves customers across industries including healthcare, manufacturing, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics and energy. Its operations span the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific.