Princeton Capital Management LLC Sells 243 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Princeton Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 243 shares during the period. Princeton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in Linde by 144.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its position in Linde by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LIN. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Linde Trading Up 0.2 %

LIN opened at $459.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $453.71 and a 200 day moving average of $454.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $217.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.