Dakota Wealth Management Decreases Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Dakota Wealth Management trimmed its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 58.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,740 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,264 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in Linde by 144.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $440.83 on Friday. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $209.91 billion, a PE ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $435.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $453.11.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

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.