Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Holdings Decreased by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 43.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 228,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 174,918 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $100,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 13.8% during the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 36,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,846,000 after purchasing an additional 4,366 shares during the period. One Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 71.9% during the second quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 1,095 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the second quarter worth approximately $58,000. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.4% during the second quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 534,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $234,491,000 after purchasing an additional 12,295 shares during the period. Finally, Taurus Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.3% during the second quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 54,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,023,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $484.18.

Linde Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $474.91 on Tuesday. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $361.02 and a 12 month high of $479.79. The firm has a market cap of $228.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s 50 day moving average is $455.31 and its 200-day moving average is $448.84.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 43.13%.

Linde Profile

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.