Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Reduces Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lessened its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 72.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,621 shares during the quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in Linde were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in Linde by 1,160.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in Linde by 144.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock opened at $425.86 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $201.39 billion, a PE ratio of 31.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $457.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $453.54. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $410.69 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen raised 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. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.