Personal CFO Solutions LLC Increases Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at about $252,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.4% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,130,986,000 after purchasing an additional 56,775 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 7.1% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at about $807,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $468.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.69 billion, a PE ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $410.69 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $444.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $455.29.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,377 shares of company stock worth $6,567,231. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.