Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Schechter Investment Advisors LLC

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 29.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,811 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,166 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LIN. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 122.6% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Halpern Financial Inc. grew its position in Linde by 309.5% during the 3rd quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 86 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $466.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $224.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $436.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $409.21. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $344.56 and a 1-year high of $477.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. Analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be given a $1.39 dividend. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. UBS Group downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Linde from $503.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $448.93.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total transaction of $23,353,139.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 57,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,271,882.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total transaction of $23,353,139.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,634 shares in the company, valued at $26,271,882.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is currently 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.