Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Syon Capital LLC

Syon Capital LLC lowered its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,611 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,298 shares during the quarter. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LIN. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Linde by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,834,631,000 after buying an additional 2,957,604 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,598,551,000 after buying an additional 30,750 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,857,741,000 after buying an additional 554,480 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,901,853,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Linde by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,818,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,598,737,000 after acquiring an additional 265,455 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $454.61 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $455.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $450.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $214.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LIN. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Argus raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $498.00.

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.