Xponance Inc. Acquires 2,797 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 67,675 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,797 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $27,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 122.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on LIN shares. Mizuho raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research started coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $456.79.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Linde news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total transaction of $23,353,139.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 57,634 shares in the company, valued at $26,271,882.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was 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. Insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.1 %

Linde stock traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $446.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,060,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,252,017. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $350.60 and a 12 month high of $477.71. The company has a market capitalization of $214.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.46, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $452.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $417.56. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.13%.

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.