ORG Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

ORG Partners LLC reduced its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 33.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 209 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in Linde by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 1,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. InvesTrust bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $2,074,000. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 231.0% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park National Corp OH bought a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $13,697,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on LIN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.75.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $414.15 on Friday. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $396.07 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $197.20 billion, a PE ratio of 31.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $439.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $453.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was 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 owns 22,776 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.