Essex LLC Reduces Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Essex LLC lowered its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. Essex LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,960,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the period. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $553,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,690,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,212,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 50.6% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 105,542 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,347,000 after buying an additional 35,467 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $503.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $456.79.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $447.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $215.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $350.60 and a 52 week high of $477.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $450.62 and a 200 day moving average of $415.72.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $1.39 dividend. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Linde’s payout ratio is 44.13%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.