Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 454,119 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,393,953 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 454,119 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Linde worth $18,586,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Linde by 1,160.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Linde by 38.6% during the 4th quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $458.33 on Friday. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $410.69 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $452.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $216.75 billion, a PE ratio of 33.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share 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, equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is 44.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on LIN. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

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.