Wallington Asset Management LLC Has $28.07 Million Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Wallington Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,345 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 717 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises approximately 4.7% of Wallington Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Wallington Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $28,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 122.6% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Linde by 309.5% in the 3rd quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 86 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $448.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 in the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $7.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $464.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,570,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,690,232. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $350.60 and a fifty-two week high of $477.71. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $445.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $413.24. The company has a market cap of $223.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.88, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

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

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.