SVB Wealth LLC Cuts Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

SVB Wealth LLC decreased its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 411 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 122.6% during the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $29,000. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $446.43 on Friday. 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 plc has a 1 year low of $350.60 and a 1 year high of $477.71. The company has a market capitalization of $214.99 billion, a PE ratio of 35.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average of $453.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $417.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Mizuho raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $456.79.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.