Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Sells 459 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. cut its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 459 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 85.2% during the 4th quarter. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Linde by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $88,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $625,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 53.6% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 2,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 168,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $70,337,000 after acquiring an additional 13,000 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock opened at $459.85 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $451.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $447.64. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.79, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on LIN. Argus raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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. This represents a 31.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,246 shares of company stock valued at $5,188,827 over the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company 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.