Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Holdings Boosted by Cornerstone Advisors LLC

Cornerstone Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $6,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Linde by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 36,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,171,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares during the period. S&CO Inc. increased its position in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 26,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,021,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 18,791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,867,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Linde by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 10,613 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,444,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Research LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 66,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,384 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,377 shares of company stock valued at $6,567,231. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $462.06 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $445.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $455.24. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $218.51 billion, a PE ratio of 33.95, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

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.