Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Townsquare Capital LLC

Townsquare Capital LLC cut its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,006 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 598 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $252,000. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,021 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $1,023,000. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $459,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Linde by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents 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 over the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of LIN stock opened at $446.03 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $210.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.77, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $456.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $451.57. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49.

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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Argus upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $498.00.

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.