Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Reduces Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd cut its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 72.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 602 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,621 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd's holdings in Linde were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde 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 directly owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Linde stock traded up $9.95 on Friday, reaching $441.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,342,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,937,907. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $456.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $451.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $208.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.