Waverton Investment Management Ltd Decreases Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd cut its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 194,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,592 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for 1.6% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Linde were worth $85,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 48,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,491,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. FineMark National Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Linde by 2.6% in the second quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 15,742 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,908,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde in the 2nd quarter worth about $88,000. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 3.1% in the second quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $976,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.18.

Linde Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of LIN stock opened at $465.52 on Friday. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $361.02 and a twelve month high of $479.79. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $450.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $447.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. Linde’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is 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.