Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 2,415 Shares of Linde plc (NYSE:LIN)

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Linde plc (NYSE:LIN – Get Rating) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 132,416 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,415 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $35,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE bought a new position in Linde in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its holdings in Linde by 92.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 125 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 2nd quarter worth $46,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP raised its holdings in Linde by 1,809.1% in the 3rd quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in Linde in the 2nd quarter worth $58,000. 78.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $342.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $168.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.51, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $332.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $314.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $262.47 and a twelve month high of $362.74.

Linde (NYSE:LIN – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $7.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.49 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 12.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 13.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 14th will be given a $1.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 13th. This represents a $5.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.17. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LIN shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Linde from $375.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Linde from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Linde from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Citigroup increased their price target on Linde from $402.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Linde from $370.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $370.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 4,060 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.17, for a total value of $1,462,290.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,036,953.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Profile

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Linde Plc is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It designs and builds equipment that produces industrial gases and offers customers a wide range of gas production and processing services such as olefin plants, natural gas plants, air separation plants, hydrogen and synthesis gas plants and other types of plants.