Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC cut its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,669 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,083 shares during the quarter. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $9,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,023,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $590,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Linde by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 644 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Linde by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,448,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $898,188,000 after acquiring an additional 46,843 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 over the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $454.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $453.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $449.71. The company has a market capitalization of $215.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Argus raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $498.00.

Linde 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.