Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by United Asset Strategies Inc.

United Asset Strategies Inc. reduced its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 424 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 122.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth $26,000. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at $29,000. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN traded down $0.27 on Tuesday, hitting $444.48. The stock had a trading volume of 447,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,271,539. The company’s 50-day moving average is $451.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $416.84. Linde plc has a one year low of $350.60 and a one year high of $477.71. The stock has a market cap of $214.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total transaction of $23,353,139.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 57,634 shares in the company, valued at $26,271,882.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on LIN. 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. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Citigroup downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.