DE Burlo Group Inc. Sells 15,550 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

DE Burlo Group Inc. lowered its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 42.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,150 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 15,550 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for approximately 1.2% of DE Burlo Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. DE Burlo Group Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $9,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Linde by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,676,156 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $20,744,033,000 after acquiring an additional 405,952 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Linde by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,796,924 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,434,406,000 after purchasing an additional 141,322 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in Linde by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,959,993 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,624,462,000 after purchasing an additional 138,585 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,449,218 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,513,551,000 after purchasing an additional 15,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Linde by 7.6% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,112,160 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,365,647,000 after buying an additional 218,746 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $4.67 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $481.68. The company had a trading volume of 1,054,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,875,732. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $361.02 and a 52-week high of $482.11. The company's 50 day moving average price is $460.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $449.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $231.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The company's revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $477.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, August 30th. 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. Finally, Citigroup raised 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $484.18.

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.