Smith Salley & Associates Has $21.42 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Smith Salley & Associates grew its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 52,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,858 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for 1.4% of Smith Salley & Associates’ holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Smith Salley & Associates’ holdings in Linde were worth $21,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the second quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,692,463 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $644,986,000 after acquiring an additional 14,969 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new stake in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $23,044,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning acquired a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,600,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd lifted its stake in Linde by 156.3% in the fourth quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 10,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,146,000 after buying an additional 6,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,679,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at $3,177,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at $3,177,248.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 in the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $464.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $445.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $413.24. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $350.60 and a 1 year high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on LIN. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Linde from $503.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $448.93.

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.