Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Tributary Capital Management LLC

Tributary Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 55 shares during the quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Channel Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 7,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Linde by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $898,188,000 after acquiring an additional 46,843 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Linde by 6.7% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,021 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 16.8% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Linde by 4.4% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 2,312 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock opened at $439.25 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $435.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $453.05. The stock has a market cap of $209.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on LIN. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.