Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Cuts Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lessened its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 732,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 76,779 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned approximately 0.15% of Linde worth $306,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Linde by 1,160.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the 4th 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. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 over the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $461.43 on Thursday. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $454.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $454.24. The stock has a market cap of $218.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reduced 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

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.