Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC cut its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,962 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 947 shares during the quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $4,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Linde by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,834,631,000 after buying an additional 2,957,604 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,598,551,000 after buying an additional 30,750 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Linde by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,857,741,000 after buying an additional 554,480 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,901,853,000. Finally, Freemont Capital Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,128,233,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.11.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Linde
Insider Activity at Linde
In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Linde Price Performance
Linde stock traded up $3.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $457.77. 1,845,722 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,944,952. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $451.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $447.60. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $215.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.63, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00.
Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.75 EPS. Linde's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.
Linde Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.57%.
Linde Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Featured Articles
Before you consider Linde, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Linde wasn't on the list.
While Linde currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Nuclear energy stocks are roaring. It's the hottest energy sector of the year. Cameco Corp, Paladin Energy, and BWX Technologies were all up more than 40% in 2024. The biggest market moves could still be ahead of us, and there are seven nuclear energy stocks that could rise much higher in the next several months. To unlock these tickers, enter your email address below.
Get This Free Report
