Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Marietta Wealth Management LLC

Marietta Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,265 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 354 shares during the period. Linde makes up about 1.6% of Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $8,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 122.6% during the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth about $29,000. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN traded down $0.25 on Tuesday, reaching $444.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 510,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,272,400. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $451.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $416.84. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $350.60 and a 12-month high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Linde news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on LIN. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $503.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $456.79.

About Linde

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.