Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Spinnaker Trust

Spinnaker Trust decreased its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,992 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 241 shares during the quarter. Spinnaker Trust’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Jersey Better Educational Savings Trust purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $201,000. Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $430,000. Abbrea Capital LLC grew its position in Linde by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 2,694 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC grew its position in Linde by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 6,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,569,000 after buying an additional 943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. grew its position in Linde by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 23,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,656,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho upgraded shares of 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, April 18th. 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. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $456.79.

Linde Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ LIN traded down $0.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $443.18. 1,583,773 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,507,545. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $350.60 and a fifty-two week high of $477.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.43 billion, a PE ratio of 35.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $456.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $420.75.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 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 firm had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Linde news, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 56,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,058,131.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.