Haverford Trust Co Sells 100 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Haverford Trust Co trimmed its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,096 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Linde by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 39,278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,445,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Clune & Associates LTD. bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $206,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 242,183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $101,395,000 after acquiring an additional 24,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,928,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % 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 link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $459.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $453.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $454.18. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $217.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 1.31%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

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.