Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Sells 21,548 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 73.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,873 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 21,548 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in Linde by 144.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in Linde by 1,733.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Linde by 618.8% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock opened at $436.00 on Friday. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $207.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $437.32 and its 200 day moving average is $452.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.75.

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.