Obermeyer Wealth Partners Trims Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Obermeyer Wealth Partners reduced its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 767 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 107 shares during the quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners’ holdings in Linde were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Linde by 1,160.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on LIN. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.11.

Linde Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $450.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $451.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $448.05. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.75 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

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.