Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 5,802 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 61.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,268 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,802 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $6,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth $368,000. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 1,964 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $807,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. LA Financiere DE L Echiquier boosted its holdings in Linde by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. LA Financiere DE L Echiquier now owns 195,399 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $80,252,000 after purchasing an additional 4,956 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its position in Linde by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,342 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 372.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 359 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,809,695.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.6 %

LIN stock traded up $2.51 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $453.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,557,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,309,386. The company's 50-day moving average price is $449.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $415.22. 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 has a market cap of $218.16 billion, a PE ratio of 35.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $350.60 and a 12-month high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.04 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. The business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on LIN. Mizuho increased their price objective on Linde from $503.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Linde from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Citigroup lowered shares of Linde from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group cut Linde from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $456.79.

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.