Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Position Cut by PDS Planning Inc

PDS Planning Inc lessened its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,168 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 33 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Linde were worth $890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,480,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $2,045,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 156.3% in the fourth quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 10,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,146,000 after buying an additional 6,172 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,679,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of LIN traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $446.97. 1,345,915 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,239,672. The company has a market cap of $215.25 billion, a PE ratio of 35.51, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $453.89 and its 200-day moving average is $418.89. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $350.60 and a 52 week high of $477.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. Mizuho upgraded shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research started coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $456.79.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Linde news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total value of $3,837,704.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,058,131.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 in the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.