Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,226,594 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 72,137 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up approximately 0.8% of Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.87% of Linde worth $1,735,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in Linde by 310.0% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Linde by 347.6% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its stake in Linde by 42.2% during the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of Linde 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 56,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,058,131.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,948 shares of company stock valued at $35,687,605 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.
Linde Price Performance
NASDAQ:LIN traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $432.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,499,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,147,873. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $450.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $427.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a one year low of $350.60 and a one year high of $477.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.91.
Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.42 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.5 earnings per share for the current year.
Linde Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts recently commented on LIN shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Linde from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $429.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $468.83.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Linde
About Linde
(
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.
Further Reading
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
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
As the AI market heats up, investors who have a vision for artificial intelligence have the potential to see real returns. Learn about the industry as a whole as well as seven companies that are getting work done with the power of AI.
Get This Free Report
