Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Pallas Capital Advisors LLC

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up about 0.8% of Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $14,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 122.6% in the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth $29,000. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 309.5% in the third quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 86 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Mizuho raised their price target on Linde from $503.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $448.93.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $463.40 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $223.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.78, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $441.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $411.36. Linde plc has a one year low of $350.60 and a one year high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.16 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at $3,177,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Linde news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total transaction of $23,353,139.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,634 shares in the company, valued at $26,271,882.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Company 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.