Catalyst Financial Partners LLC Grows Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 128 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total value of $23,353,139.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,634 shares in the company, valued at $26,271,882.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,948 shares of company stock valued at $35,687,605. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN traded up $2.15 on Thursday, reaching $429.86. The company had a trading volume of 1,740,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,202,527. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.62 billion, a PE ratio of 33.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $350.60 and a 12 month high of $477.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $454.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $424.22.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded 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. Wolfe Research started coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $464.69.

About Linde

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.