Connors Investor Services Inc. Lowers Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Connors Investor Services Inc. decreased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 13.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,020 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up 1.5% of Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $14,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Retirement Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. First Pacific Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 44.4% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 310.0% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Citigroup upped their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Six research 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $464.25.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN traded down $1.29 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $444.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,503,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,609,324. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $436.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $437.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $361.02 and a 1-year high of $477.71.

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 business had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

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.