Navalign LLC Buys 44 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Navalign LLC grew its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,667 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the quarter. Navalign LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TradeLink Capital LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,523,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 36.4% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,996 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $957,000 after buying an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter valued at about $6,682,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN traded down $1.91 on Thursday, hitting $464.32. 1,784,923 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,413,546. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $348.38 and a fifty-two week high of $477.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $437.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $409.61. The stock has a market cap of $223.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Linde news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $503.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $448.93.

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.