Romano Brothers AND Company Has $624,000 Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Romano Brothers AND Company decreased its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 18.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,520 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Linde were worth $624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $2,409,138,000. Winder Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at about $1,892,774,000. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 888.7% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,741,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,329,889,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,112 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Linde by 55.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,457,759 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,780,213,000 after buying an additional 1,956,394 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 450.3% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,141,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $698,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,752,456 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock traded down $5.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $447.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,976,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,267,283. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $450.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $416.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.80. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $350.60 and a 12-month high of $477.71. The company has a market capitalization of $215.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.51, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.16 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is 44.13%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction 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 $3,809,695.89. 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly 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 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $503.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $456.79.

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.