Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,930 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 695 shares during the period. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 372.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,567,958,000 after buying an additional 2,592,682 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $459,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,041 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Linde by 2,293.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,593,000 after acquiring an additional 749,763 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $308,251,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in Linde by 467.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 827,979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,780,000 after acquiring an additional 682,176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.5 %

LIN stock opened at $453.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $214.35 billion, a PE ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $447.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $455.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,377 shares of company stock valued at $6,567,231. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde 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.