Vontobel Holding Ltd. Trims Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 6.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 448,370 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 33,246 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned about 0.09% of Linde worth $213,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 0.6% in the third quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 17,582 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,384,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its position in Linde by 2.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 4,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,070,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 13.1% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,225,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. EdgeRock Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC now owns 528 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Petredis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,737 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,213,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $3.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $483.98. 1,209,924 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,839,543. The company has a market cap of $232.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $467.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $450.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a one year low of $361.02 and a one year high of $485.32.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $477.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup boosted 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.