Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,265 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,796 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $47,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,066,825,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 566.9% during 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 during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $420,720,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Linde by 104.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,679 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $7,672,000 after purchasing an additional 468,415 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Linde by 91.6% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 968,402 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $449,648,000 after purchasing an additional 463,096 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN traded up $1.76 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $458.58. 1,013,077 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,940,121. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $361.02 and a fifty-two week high of $477.71. The business's 50 day moving average is $443.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $443.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.30 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.57 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. Linde's payout ratio is 43.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $475.00 to $477.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group dropped their price target 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. Citigroup increased their price objective on 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 boosted their target price on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $484.18.

About Linde

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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