Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Reduces Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management cut its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 25.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 734 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Linde were worth $876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,919,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,182,870,000 after purchasing an additional 354,506 shares during the period. Winder Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $1,892,774,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Linde by 2.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,081,177 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,891,976,000 after acquiring an additional 123,174 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Linde by 2.6% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,960,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,102,475,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 0.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,766,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,030,146,000 after purchasing an additional 9,541 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at $3,177,248.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded down $1.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $428.80. 463,103 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,198,259. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $350.60 and a twelve month high of $477.71. The company has a market cap of $206.12 billion, a PE ratio of 33.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $454.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.19.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.38 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.42 EPS. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. UBS Group cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $464.69.

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.