Jensen Investment Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Jensen Investment Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 68 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Linde by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in Linde by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Linde by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory raised its holdings in Linde by 4.2% in the third quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total transaction of $3,837,704.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,058,131.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,948 shares of company stock valued at $35,687,605 over the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. HSBC decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. UBS Group cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $468.83.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $5.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $429.92. 1,580,946 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,114,240. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $445.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $429.50. Linde plc has a one year low of $350.60 and a one year high of $477.71. The stock has a market cap of $206.65 billion, a PE ratio of 33.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is 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.