Parallel Advisors LLC Sells 220 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Parallel Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 220 shares during the quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $252,000. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth $200,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 6.8% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,060 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,320,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank raised its position in Linde by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 3,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 28,890 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,777,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Trading Up 1.1 %

LIN opened at $460.31 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $449.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $454.70. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $410.69 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $217.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its 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 predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus 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.