Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Position Reduced by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 35.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,887 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its position in Linde by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,285 shares of company stock valued at $7,423,986 over the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $467.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $222.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $440.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $454.93. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $410.69 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

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.