Ethic Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 45.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,017 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Hawaiian Bank increased its position in shares of Linde by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 1,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in Linde by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Linde by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 103,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,224,000 after acquiring an additional 5,314 shares during the period. Threadgill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 114.9% in the 4th quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC now owns 14,771 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,184,000 after acquiring an additional 7,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,916 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,896,000 after acquiring an additional 874 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 in the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LIN. Argus raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.11.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN stock opened at $452.56 on Friday. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $452.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $448.35. The company has a market capitalization of $213.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.25, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.57%.

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.