Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 73.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,873 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 21,548 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $3,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 16.9% during the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Linde by 0.9% during the third quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $873,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 851 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of LIN traded up $3.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $436.00. 2,395,144 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,152,630. 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 firm has a market cap of $207.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $436.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $452.82.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.63 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $495.75.

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.