Vestcor Inc Sells 266 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Vestcor Inc lowered its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,987 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 266 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on LIN. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,377 shares of company stock valued at $6,567,231. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $453.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $214.35 billion, a PE ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $447.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $455.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. On average, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

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.