Bailard Inc. Has $9.81 Million Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Bailard Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 58 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $9,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Maia Wealth LLC raised its position in Linde by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 496 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $619,000. Onefund LLC raised its position in Linde by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Onefund LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $548,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA raised its position in Linde by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA now owns 57,794 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,197,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on LIN. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $467.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.39 billion, a PE ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day moving average is $440.68 and its 200-day moving average is $454.96. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,285 shares of company stock worth $7,423,986. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.