Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,164 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,965 shares during the period. Linde makes up 2.8% of Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $38,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 122.6% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 310.0% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its stake in Linde by 42.2% in the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, 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, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,695.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 in the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LIN. Mizuho upgraded shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $460.00.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded up $0.34 on Monday, hitting $443.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 413,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,187,185. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $350.60 and a 52-week high of $477.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $456.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $421.34. The company has a market capitalization of $213.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. 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%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.13%.

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.