11,237 Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Purchased by Cary Street Partners Financial LLC

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 11,237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,705,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 1,160.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on LIN. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $498.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 over the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $452.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $213.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.25, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $453.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $448.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.75 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

About Linde

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.