Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Wealthquest Corp

Wealthquest Corp lessened its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 920 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 46 shares during the period. Wealthquest Corp’s holdings in Linde were worth $385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,973,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,217,197,000 after buying an additional 154,792 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,449,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,513,551,000 after acquiring an additional 15,187 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 372.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,567,958,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Linde by 1.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,015,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,438,154,000 after purchasing an additional 50,882 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in Linde by 2.4% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,130,986,000 after purchasing an additional 56,775 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $436.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $436.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $453.12. The company has a market capitalization of $207.61 billion, a PE ratio of 33.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $396.07 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.63 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.75.

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.