Scientech Research LLC Sells 1,668 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Scientech Research LLC decreased its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 35.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,066 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,668 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $1,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,901,853,000. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd bought a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,128,233,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Linde by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,834,631,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957,604 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $468,360,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 56,467.9% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,097,982 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $459,692,000 after buying an additional 1,096,041 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on LIN. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, 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 transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,246 shares of company stock worth $5,188,827. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.1%

Linde stock traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $459.85. 1,329,657 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,943,059. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $451.20 and a 200-day moving average of $447.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $216.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm 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 company posted $3.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

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.