Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 392 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC cut its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 33.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 766 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 392 shares during the quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,377 shares of company stock valued at $6,567,231. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ LIN opened at $468.25 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $443.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $455.16. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

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.