Gryphon Financial Partners LLC Sells 442 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Gryphon Financial Partners LLC cut its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 16.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 442 shares during the quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Wrapmanager Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA lifted its position in Linde by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,999,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,732,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company grew its position in Linde by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 2,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ LIN opened at $467.05 on Monday. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.39 billion, a PE ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business’s 50-day moving average is $440.68 and its 200 day moving average is $454.99.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were 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 owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,285 shares of company stock valued at $7,423,986. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde 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.