Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,308 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 285 shares during the period. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 4.6% in the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 3,307 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,451,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 10.2% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 218,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $95,860,000 after acquiring an additional 20,200 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its stake in Linde by 133.3% in the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.1% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,626,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded down $6.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $413.64. 694,760 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,129,293. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $196.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $440.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $453.31. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LIN. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.