Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Trims Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. decreased its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 98,806 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,448 shares during the period. Linde accounts for about 1.1% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Linde were worth $41,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Wrapmanager Inc. boosted its stake in Linde by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $709,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC increased its position in Linde by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA lifted its stake in Linde by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,999,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Austin Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 over the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LIN. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $459.75 on Thursday. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $451.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.61. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Linde Company 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.