Stonegate Investment Group LLC Has $15.77 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC reduced its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,958 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 237 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $15,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Linde by 122.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ LIN traded down $4.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $440.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,172,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,197,494. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $456.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $422.26. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $350.60 and a twelve month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $212.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 2.89 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, 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 business had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.16 EPS. Linde’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on LIN. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $460.00.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Linde news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.