Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 18.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,822 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 402 shares during the period. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $472.71 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $452.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $448.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $222.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The company’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.75 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.11.

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.