Bar Harbor Wealth Management Decreases Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Bar Harbor Wealth Management decreased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 131 shares during the quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management’s holdings in Linde were worth $687,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Linde by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,021 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Linde by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $898,188,000 after purchasing an additional 46,843 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in Linde by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Linde by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,215,000 after buying an additional 2,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 196,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $93,457,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on LIN. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.75.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock opened at $421.43 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $439.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $453.16. Linde plc has a one year low of $396.07 and a one year high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $200.67 billion, a PE ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

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.