Syon Capital LLC Purchases 943 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Syon Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 17.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 943 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $254,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Ziegler Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $219,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $233,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho raised shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $456.79.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $0.65 on Friday, hitting $443.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,559,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,209,064. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $350.60 and a 1-year high of $477.71. The stock has a market cap of $213.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $455.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $420.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.16 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.13%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.