Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Bought by Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.

Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,827 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 891 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises approximately 4.0% of Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $14,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 7.0% in the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ziegler Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $219,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded down $1.91 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $445.06. The stock had a trading volume of 1,464,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,229,750. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $454.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $419.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.33 billion, a PE ratio of 35.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $350.60 and a twelve month high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.16 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Citigroup downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $456.79.

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.