Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 328 Shares of Linde plc (NYSE:LIN)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN) by 26.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 328 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,409,138,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 35,747.9% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,828,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,398,000 after buying an additional 5,812,246 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 888.7% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,741,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,329,889,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,112 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Linde by 4,122.9% in the first quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,112,289 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,106,232,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Linde by 8.8% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 34,287,378 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,187,106,000 after acquiring an additional 2,768,390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Linde from $420.00 to $444.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Linde from $400.00 to $420.00 in a report on Friday, July 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on Linde from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Linde from $440.00 to $463.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Linde from $418.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $424.50.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 1,245 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.63, for a total value of $482,599.35. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,149 shares in the company, valued at $3,158,796.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 12,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.53, for a total transaction of $4,825,440.52. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 27,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,498,541.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 1,245 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.63, for a total value of $482,599.35. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,158,796.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $407.88 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $381.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $376.78. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $302.17 and a 12-month high of $411.08. The stock has a market cap of $197.78 billion, a PE ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Linde (NYSE:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The basic materials company reported $3.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The firm had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 14.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 4th will be paid a $1.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 1st. This represents a $5.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.11%.

Linde Profile

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia 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.