M3 Advisory Group LLC Sells 81 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

M3 Advisory Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 81 shares during the quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Clarendon Private LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $833,000. Consolidated Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,099,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Affinity Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Affinity Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,569,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $734,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC grew its position in Linde by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 1,158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on LIN. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Linde Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $439.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $396.07 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $435.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $453.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.63 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.