Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,065 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 38,590 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,065 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $16,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Robeco Schweiz AG grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 53,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,540 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 5,222 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in Linde by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ LIN opened at $460.28 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $439.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $454.79. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $219.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on LIN. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,285 shares of company stock worth $7,423,986. Corporate insiders own 0.60% 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.