Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Holdings Lowered by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,830,655 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 119,811 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $762,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Linde by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 973,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $407,427,000 after purchasing an additional 38,412 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $241,000. Allianz SE bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,583,000. Finally, Cambridge Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $7,451,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $459.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $217.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $456.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $454.22.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

About Linde

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.