Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Bought by Linscomb Wealth Inc.

Linscomb Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,105 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted 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 worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on LIN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup dropped their price target 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, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,285 shares of company stock worth $7,423,986. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $467.05 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $440.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.93. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $222.39 billion, a PE ratio of 34.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Linde 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.