Petredis Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Petredis Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,613 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 124 shares during the quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in Linde by 144.8% in 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 during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Linde by 1,733.3% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Down 0.4 %

LIN stock opened at $439.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $435.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $453.02. The firm has a market cap of $209.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.35, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LIN. 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. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

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.