Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lowered its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 25.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 734 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Linde were worth $876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the third quarter worth $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 122.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 310.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Linde by 347.6% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN traded down $1.20 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $428.80. 463,103 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,198,259. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $206.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.36, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $350.60 and a 52 week high of $477.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $454.81 and a 200 day moving average of $424.19.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.38 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. Linde’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Linde 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 value of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company 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.