Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Holdings Cut by Clarius Group LLC

Clarius Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,756 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 122.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at $29,000. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 309.5% in the third quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 86 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total value of $23,353,139.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,634 shares in the company, valued at $26,271,882.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Trading Down 1.2 %

Linde stock opened at $447.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $215.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.51, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a one year low of $350.60 and a one year high of $477.71. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $450.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $415.72.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $1.39 dividend. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LIN. TD Cowen increased their target price on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research started coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $456.79.

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.