First Foundation Advisors Sells 1,683 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

First Foundation Advisors lessened its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,787 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,683 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors' holdings in Linde were worth $7,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wrapmanager Inc. boosted its stake in Linde by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA increased its stake in Linde by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Fourpath Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % 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, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:LIN traded up $5.93 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $451.96. 1,260,945 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,935,339. The company has a market cap of $213.74 billion, a PE ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Linde plc has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $456.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $451.57.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen upgraded 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 research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $498.00.

About Linde

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.