Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 94,164 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,965 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for approximately 2.8% of Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $38,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Linde by 2.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,919,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,182,870,000 after acquiring an additional 354,506 shares in the last quarter. Winder Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at $1,892,774,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Linde by 2.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,081,177 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,891,976,000 after buying an additional 123,174 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Linde by 2.6% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,960,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,102,475,000 after buying an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Linde by 0.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,766,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,030,146,000 after buying an additional 9,541 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total transaction of $3,837,704.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 56,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,058,131.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Citigroup cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho upgraded Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $460.00.

Linde Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Linde stock traded up $0.34 on Monday, reaching $443.52. 413,973 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,187,185. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $456.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $421.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 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. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $350.60 and a fifty-two week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. 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 firm earned $3.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.13%.

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.