Dakota Wealth Management Sells 5,264 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Dakota Wealth Management lowered its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 58.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,740 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,264 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 181,874 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $76,145,000 after buying an additional 61,833 shares during the period. Genesis Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Linde by 130.8% in the fourth quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 573 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in Linde by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspire Private Capital LLC raised its stake in Linde by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 1,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $610,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $440.83 on Friday. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $209.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50-day moving average is $435.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $453.11.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Activity

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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on LIN. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

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.