Blueprint Investment Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Blueprint Investment Partners LLC decreased its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 45.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 869 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 736 shares during the quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its position in Linde by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $5.62 on Friday, hitting $459.11. 1,334,712 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,876,018. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $456.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $454.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49.

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Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $501.82.

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.