Lee Financial Co Reduces Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

by · The Markets Daily

Lee Financial Co decreased its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN – Free Report) by 13.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 402 shares during the period. Lee Financial Co’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in shares of Linde by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 68,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,662,000 after buying an additional 1,876 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Linde by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 595,775 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $249,433,000 after acquiring an additional 114,271 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $480.08 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $468.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $460.24. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.92.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total value of $23,815,274.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 480,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the 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 owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. This 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 company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on LIN. Citigroup upgraded Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $519.63.

Read Our Latest Research Report on LIN

Linde Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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