Bailard Inc. Raises Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Bailard Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $9,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning bought a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $1,480,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. purchased a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $2,045,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd lifted its holdings in Linde by 156.3% in the fourth quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 10,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,146,000 after acquiring an additional 6,172 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $1,679,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total transaction of $3,837,704.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,058,131.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN traded down $0.74 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $444.32. 1,968,431 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,226,559. The company has a market cap of $213.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.26, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.80. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $350.60 and a 12-month high of $477.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $455.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $420.11.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is 44.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Citigroup downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Mizuho raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $456.79.

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.