Investment House LLC Has $5.49 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Investment House LLC raised its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,106 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Linde by 1,160.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in Linde by 144.8% during the 4th 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. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Linde by 38.6% during the 4th quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $460.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.88 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $450.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $454.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

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.