Zhang Financial LLC Has $1.05 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Zhang Financial LLC reduced its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 34 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,486 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $3,307,000. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $1,766,000. HTLF Bank acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $432,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,834 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. Mizuho raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $456.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total value of $3,837,704.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,058,131.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total value of $3,837,704.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,398 shares in the company, valued at $26,058,131.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 in the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Trading Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ LIN opened at $446.30 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $453.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $418.29. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $350.60 and a 12 month high of $477.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.93 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.10. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders 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 1.25%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 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.