Ethos Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Ethos Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 997 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $410,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 122.6% during the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 310.0% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 347.6% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total transaction of $23,353,139.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,271,882.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the company’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 owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at $3,177,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total value of $23,353,139.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,271,882.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,948 shares of company stock worth $35,687,605. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:LIN traded up $2.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $429.86. 1,740,059 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,202,527. Linde plc has a one year low of $350.60 and a one year high of $477.71. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $454.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.22. The company has a market cap of $206.62 billion, a PE ratio of 33.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The company had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.5 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $464.69.

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.