Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s 7th Largest Position

Norris Perne & French LLP MI reduced its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 83,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,258 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises about 2.8% of Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in Linde were worth $38,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake 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 worth $4,434,406,000 after buying an additional 141,322 shares during the period. Provence Wealth Management Group raised its stake in shares of Linde by 655.7% during the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 5,278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,168,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,897,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. UBS Group cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $468.83.

Linde Stock Down 0.3 %

LIN stock traded down $1.41 on Friday, hitting $438.81. 2,470,164 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,763,077. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $358.37 and a 12-month high of $477.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $435.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $433.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $210.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.95.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were issued a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

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.