Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC reduced its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 524 shares during the period. Linde comprises approximately 2.0% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Linde were worth $23,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 122.6% during the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth about $29,000. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. grew its position in Linde by 309.5% in the 3rd quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 86 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total value of $23,353,139.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 57,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,271,882.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total value of $23,353,139.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 57,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,271,882.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $448.93.

Linde Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $464.32 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $437.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $409.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.85, a PEG ratio of 3.04 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. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $348.38 and a 1-year high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted 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 net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors 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 1.20%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.