Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,267 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,979 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $2,512,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 566.9% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,833,465 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $851,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558,538 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Linde in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $420,720,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 47,830.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $446,377,000 after purchasing an additional 934,123 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Linde in the 1st quarter worth approximately $210,480,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in Linde by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Trading Up 0.1 %

LIN traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $456.24. 1,520,288 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,834,736. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $470.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $452.58. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.24 billion, a PE ratio of 34.55, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.63 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on LIN. Barclays lifted their price objective on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $490.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,136,996. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Company 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.