Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Buys 257 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,829 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wrapmanager Inc. grew its holdings in Linde by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA lifted its position in shares of Linde by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,999,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company increased its holdings in Linde by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 2,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $841,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in Linde by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Up 0.5 %

LIN opened at $453.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $214.35 billion, a PE ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $447.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $455.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.