Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Holdings Lifted by Northstar Advisory Group LLC

Northstar Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,024 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. TradeLink Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 1st quarter valued at $2,523,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in Linde by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 25.4% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,996 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $957,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 15.3% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $760,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter worth $6,682,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $448.93.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $463.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $223.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.00, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $348.38 and a 52 week high of $477.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $436.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $409.21.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a $1.39 dividend. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.