Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Holdings Decreased by Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co

Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lowered its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 686 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co’s holdings in Linde were worth $287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LIN. Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised 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 valued at $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 2,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $841,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in Linde by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its holdings in Linde by 34.2% during the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Trading Down 1.3 %

LIN opened at $461.40 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $439.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $454.75. The firm has a market cap of $219.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $410.69 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s payout ratio is 40.85%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,285 shares of company stock worth $7,423,986. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Linde

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.