Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by MML Investors Services LLC

MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 41,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $17,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter valued at $252,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,023,000. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $459,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Linde by 6.6% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $590,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $498.00.

Linde Stock Down 1.8 %

LIN stock opened at $443.85 on Tuesday. Linde plc has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $455.16 and a 200-day moving average of $450.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.90 billion, a PE ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.