Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,632 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 210 shares during the quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LIN. TradeLink Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the first quarter worth approximately $2,523,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 36.4% during the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $566,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 25.4% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,996 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $957,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 15.3% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the period. Finally, Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the first quarter worth approximately $6,682,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $464.32. 1,784,986 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,134,116. The stock has a market cap of $223.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.85, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $348.38 and a twelve month high of $477.71. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $439.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $409.99.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.16 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Linde from $503.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $448.93.

Linde 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.