Sigma Planning Corp Sells 1,166 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Sigma Planning Corp cut its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 52.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,049 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,166 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Linde were worth $431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Winder Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,892,774,000. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $168,636,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 33,201.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 411,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $169,189,000 after purchasing an additional 410,705 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Linde by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,592,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $973,865,000 after purchasing an additional 391,153 shares during the period. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Linde by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,033,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $384,681,000 after purchasing an additional 358,492 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Down 0.1 %

LIN opened at $443.18 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $213.43 billion, a PE ratio of 35.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $456.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $420.75. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $350.60 and a 1-year high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total value of $3,837,704.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 56,398 shares in the company, valued at $26,058,131.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Mizuho raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $456.79.

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.