Phraction Management LLC Lowers Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Phraction Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,915 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises approximately 1.2% of Phraction Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Phraction Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,840,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $1,480,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $2,045,000. Finally, Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 156.3% in the fourth quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 10,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,146,000 after acquiring an additional 6,172 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $4.77 on Wednesday, reaching $445.73. 474,360 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,176,249. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $350.60 and a fifty-two week high of $477.71. The company’s 50 day moving average is $456.43 and its 200-day moving average is $422.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.65 billion, a PE ratio of 35.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total value of $3,837,704.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,058,131.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s 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 completion of 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. Insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LIN. Mizuho raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Six 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $460.00.

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.