Natixis Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 581,566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 12,696 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $243,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Wrapmanager Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $709,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA increased its position in shares of Linde by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Austin Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,377 shares of company stock worth $6,567,231. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $455.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $448.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $455.03. The stock has a market cap of $215.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.47, 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.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Linde’s payout ratio is 44.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on LIN. Citigroup cut their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Linde Company 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.