Zhang Financial LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Zhang Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 34 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,480,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,045,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd lifted its position in Linde by 156.3% in the 4th quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 10,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,146,000 after acquiring an additional 6,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,679,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of LIN stock opened at $446.30 on Friday. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $350.60 and a 52-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 firm has a market capitalization of $214.93 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $453.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $418.29.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.16 EPS. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total transaction of $3,837,704.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 56,398 shares in the company, valued at $26,058,131.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $26,271,882.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total value of $3,837,704.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 56,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,058,131.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on LIN. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research began coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $456.79.

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.