Yousif Capital Management LLC Has $37.98 Million Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Yousif Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 81,554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,068 shares during the period. Linde accounts for approximately 0.4% of Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $37,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Linde by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $88,505,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 168,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $70,337,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 7,788 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,261,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Linde by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 138,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $57,986,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 300.3% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 26,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,948,000 after purchasing an additional 19,618 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $472.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $222.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $452.54 and its 200-day moving average is $448.63. Linde plc has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.11.

Linde Company 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.