Harbour Investments Inc. Cuts Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Harbour Investments Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,676 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 60 shares during the quarter. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $252,000. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in Linde by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,715,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Linde by 101.3% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 348,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $166,415,000 after purchasing an additional 175,657 shares in the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its holdings in Linde by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 45,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,605,000 after purchasing an additional 6,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 760.7% in the third quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,962,000 after acquiring an additional 3,636 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $459.75 on Thursday. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $410.69 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $217.42 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $451.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $454.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on LIN. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

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.