Cambridge Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,589 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Cambridge Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,589 shares during the period. Linde makes up 3.8% of Cambridge Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Cambridge Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $7,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 122.6% in the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 310.0% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 347.6% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded up $3.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $423.60. 2,657,419 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,803,659. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $350.60 and a 1 year high of $477.71. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $455.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $422.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Linde news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on LIN. Citigroup cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $460.15.

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.