Ascent Group LLC Sells 100 Shares of Linde plc (NYSE:LIN)

Ascent Group LLC cut its holdings in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN – Get Rating) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,096 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE bought a new stake in Linde in the second quarter worth $26,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its stake in shares of Linde by 92.3% during the third quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 125 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at about $46,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP raised its stake in shares of Linde by 1,809.1% during the third quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at about $58,000. 78.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 4,060 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.17, for a total transaction of $1,462,290.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,036,953.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $342.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $168.54 billion, a PE ratio of 41.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.79. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $262.47 and a fifty-two week high of $362.74. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $332.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $314.72.

Linde (NYSE:LIN – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $7.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.49 billion. Linde had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 14.95%. The business’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 13.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.275 per share. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.17. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 13th. This represents a $5.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $375.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $370.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $375.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $402.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $370.67.

Linde Company Profile

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Linde Plc is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It designs and builds equipment that produces industrial gases and offers customers a wide range of gas production and processing services such as olefin plants, natural gas plants, air separation plants, hydrogen and synthesis gas plants and other types of plants.