Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Bfsg LLC

Bfsg LLC cut its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 221 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Linde by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory lifted its holdings in Linde by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 2,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock traded down $1.96 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $442.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 320,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,202,873. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $455.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $420.11. 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 $213.03 billion, a PE ratio of 35.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $1.39 dividend. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. TD Cowen increased their target price 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 increased their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $456.79.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 $3,177,248.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.