Artemis Investment Management LLP Decreases Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Artemis Investment Management LLP reduced its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 30.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 181,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 81,336 shares during the period. Linde makes up about 1.3% of Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Linde were worth $86,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LIN. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 566.9% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,833,465 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $851,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,558,538 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Linde during the second quarter valued at approximately $420,720,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 91.6% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 968,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $449,648,000 after buying an additional 463,096 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Linde during the first quarter worth approximately $210,480,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 108.7% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,086,000 after buying an additional 408,659 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of LIN stock opened at $469.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Linde plc has a one year low of $361.02 and a one year high of $483.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $464.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $449.71. The company has a market capitalization of $225.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.42, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at $8,136,996. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group cut their price target 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 reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America raised 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. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report 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 MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $484.18.

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.