Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 8,053 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,307,000. Linde comprises approximately 3.4% of Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,480,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $2,045,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd raised its position in Linde by 156.3% in the fourth quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 10,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,146,000 after purchasing an additional 6,172 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $1,679,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Mizuho upgraded Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $456.79.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,271,882.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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 corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Down 0.5 %

LIN traded down $2.23 on Friday, hitting $444.20. 470,717 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,233,232. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $350.60 and a twelve month high of $477.71. The company has a market cap of $213.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $453.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $417.76.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

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

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.