2,454 Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Purchased by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,008,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Linde by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners increased its holdings in Linde by 121.6% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,957 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $729,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Linde by 4.3% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $818,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 9.1% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,038 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,131,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $3.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $423.60. 2,657,419 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,803,659. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $455.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $422.69. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $350.60 and a 52-week high of $477.71. The company has a market cap of $204.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.5 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of Linde 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,271,882.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. 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 lowered 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 note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $460.15.

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.