MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 5,069 Shares of Linde plc (NYSE:LIN)

MetLife Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 124,934 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,069 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $47,610,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 6,500.0% in the second quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 66 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Linde in the first quarter worth $25,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its stake in Linde by 51.9% during the first quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 82 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Manitou Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Linde during the first quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the second quarter worth $33,000. 80.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 1,245 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.63, for a total value of $482,599.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,158,796.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 1,245 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.63, for a total transaction of $482,599.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,149 shares in the company, valued at $3,158,796.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 12,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.53, for a total value of $4,825,440.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 27,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,498,541.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of LIN stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $408.02. The company had a trading volume of 354,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,751,787. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $302.17 and a 12 month high of $411.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $381.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $376.78. The company has a market cap of $197.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.88.

Linde (NYSE:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The basic materials company reported $3.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 18.44%. Linde’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 14.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 4th will be given a $1.275 dividend. This represents a $5.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 1st. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. Argus raised their target price on Linde from $440.00 to $463.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Linde from $400.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Friday, July 28th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Linde from $450.00 to $445.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on Linde from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $420.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $424.50.

Linde Profile

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia 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.