Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,933 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,778 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Linde were worth $10,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at about $252,000. AMG National Trust Bank grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.5% in the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 3,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.8% in the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 28,890 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,777,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.1% in the third quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 3,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.4% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 18,876 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,001,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of LIN opened at $460.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.88 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $450.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.57.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

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.