Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Holdings Trimmed by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lowered its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 715 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $10,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $252,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $507,000. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in Linde by 16.8% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Linde by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 17,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,556,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its position in Linde by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,482,000 after buying an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % 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 valued at $5,603,843 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $459.11 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $456.09 and its 200-day moving average is $454.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $217.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.09%.

Linde 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.