Sandhill Capital Partners LLC Sells 24,540 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 104,436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 24,540 shares during the period. Linde makes up approximately 3.6% of Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $42,893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory lifted its holdings in Linde by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 2,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $0.49 during trading on Thursday, hitting $443.83. 1,390,610 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,217,092. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $350.60 and a 1-year high of $477.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $455.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $420.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $213.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.26, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. Linde’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LIN. Citigroup downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho raised shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $456.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total value of $3,837,704.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 56,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,058,131.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 in the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.