Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Sells 1,187 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC cut its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,187 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $19,622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 in the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities 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, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of LIN stock opened at $457.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $454.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $454.19. The company has a market capitalization of $216.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.61, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

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.