Northern Financial Advisors Inc Boosts Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Northern Financial Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Linde were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Provence Wealth Management Group grew its stake in Linde by 655.7% in the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $1,480,000. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. bought a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,045,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded down $2.74 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $427.26. 580,322 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,199,893. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $454.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.19. Linde plc has a one year low of $350.60 and a one year 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 has a market capitalization of $205.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. Mizuho upped their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. HSBC dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $464.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Linde news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total transaction of $3,837,704.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,058,131.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 over the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.