Donaldson Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 122.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN traded up $0.28 on Tuesday, hitting $445.03. 209,268 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,267,581. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $350.60 and a fifty-two week high of $477.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $451.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $416.84. The stock has a market cap of $214.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its 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. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $456.79.

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.