Spinnaker Trust Cuts Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Spinnaker Trust decreased its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,992 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 241 shares during the period. Spinnaker Trust’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. New Jersey Better Educational Savings Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $201,000. Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $430,000. Abbrea Capital LLC grew its stake in Linde by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 2,694 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 6,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,569,000 after purchasing an additional 943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 23,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,656,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $456.79.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total transaction of $23,353,139.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 57,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,271,882.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ LIN traded down $0.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $443.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,583,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,507,545. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $350.60 and a fifty-two week high of $477.71. The company has a market capitalization of $213.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $456.06 and its 200 day moving average is $420.75.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $1.39 dividend. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.13%.

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.