Kozak & Associates Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 38.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $40,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in shares of Linde by 133.3% in the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its position in Linde by 1,733.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on LIN. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN remained flat at $413.50 during midday trading on Monday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 883,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,643,903. The firm has a market cap of $196.89 billion, a PE ratio of 31.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $396.07 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $445.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

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.