Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Bought by Smith Salley & Associates

Smith Salley & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 52,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,858 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises about 1.4% of Smith Salley & Associates’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Smith Salley & Associates’ holdings in Linde were worth $21,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TradeLink Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,523,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in Linde by 36.4% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $566,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,996 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in shares of Linde by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter worth $6,682,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Linde news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total transaction of $23,353,139.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,271,882.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $464.70 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $445.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $413.24. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $350.60 and a 52 week high of $477.71. The stock has a market cap of $223.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.88, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.80.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $448.93.

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.