Great Diamond Partners LLC Sells 93 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Great Diamond Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 93 shares during the quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI increased its position in shares of Linde by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 59,242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,331,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,293,000. Ethos Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $410,000. Vestor Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 15,597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,406,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prossimo Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 707 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $434.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $453.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $424.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $350.60 and a 1-year high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The company had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.42 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on LIN shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $464.69.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total value 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 $26,271,882.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 77,948 shares of company stock worth $35,687,605 over the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.