Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC Has $966,000 Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,308 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 285 shares during the quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $966,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Linde during the second quarter worth $33,000. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 3,307 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 218,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $95,860,000 after purchasing an additional 20,200 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its stake in Linde by 133.3% in the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,626,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN traded down $6.37 on Friday, hitting $413.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 694,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,129,293. The firm has a market cap of $196.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $440.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $453.31. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.63 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup cut their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.75.

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.