Wealthquest Corp Trims Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Wealthquest Corp trimmed its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 920 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 46 shares during the period. Wealthquest Corp’s holdings in Linde were worth $385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. grew its stake in Linde by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 2,710 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,135,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,575 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. DLK Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 7,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,281,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,969,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trueblood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,758 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,573,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $436.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. Linde plc has a one year low of $396.07 and a one year high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s fifty day moving average is $436.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $453.12.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.