Cannon Global Investment Management LLC Invests $1.77 Million in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Cannon Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,766,000. Linde makes up approximately 13.3% of Cannon Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Linde by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in Linde by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Linde by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory boosted its position in Linde by 4.2% during the third quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 2,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LIN. Mizuho raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $456.79.

Linde Price Performance

LIN traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $446.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 387,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,232,088. 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 plc has a twelve month low of $350.60 and a twelve month high of $477.71. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $453.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $417.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.16 earnings per share. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.13%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.70% 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.