Versant Capital Management Inc Acquires 117 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 22.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 644 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Linde were worth $270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 67.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 226,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $108,177,000 after purchasing an additional 91,035 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $8,531,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 6,020 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,871,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 618.8% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $413.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $196.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.40, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.93. 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 plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $446.27 and a 200-day moving average of $454.18.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate 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.