Great Lakes Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 27.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,928 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 11,596 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $12,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Austin Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $26,655,000. Knuff & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,445 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,442,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,829 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,952,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Linde Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of LIN stock traded up $2.09 on Thursday, hitting $453.26. The stock had a trading volume of 2,213,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,370,762. The business has a 50 day moving average of $447.82 and a 200 day moving average of $455.12. The stock has a market cap of $214.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 12-month low of $410.69 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. This is an increase from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,377 shares of company stock worth $6,567,231. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Citigroup dropped their target price 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. Erste Group Bank restated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.