ORG Partners LLC Decreases Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

ORG Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 82.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 478 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $41,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $1,480,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd lifted its position in Linde by 156.3% in the fourth quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 10,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,146,000 after buying an additional 6,172 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $1,679,000. Finally, Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $2,752,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Linde news, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total transaction of $3,837,704.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,058,131.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, 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. Insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $456.79.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $444.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.18 billion, a PE ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $350.60 and a fifty-two week high of $477.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $451.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $416.84.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Linde’s payout ratio is 44.13%.

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.