Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stake Lessened by Goelzer Investment Management Inc.

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 663 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 27 shares during the quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four 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, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of LIN stock opened at $439.25 on Friday. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $209.15 billion, a PE ratio of 33.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $435.45 and a 200-day moving average of $453.05.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

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.