Syon Capital LLC Increases Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Syon Capital LLC increased its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 17.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 943 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $254,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $219,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $233,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of LIN traded down $0.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $443.18. 1,559,752 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,209,064. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $350.60 and a 52 week high of $477.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50 day moving average is $455.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $420.27. The company has a market capitalization of $213.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.11, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.10. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 in the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. Mizuho raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $456.79.

About Linde

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.