Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Buys 186 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,581 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $9,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in Linde by 108.7% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,961 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC grew its stake in Linde by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC grew its stake in Linde by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LIN. Mizuho boosted their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,285 shares of company stock valued at $7,423,986 in the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $460.28 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $439.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $454.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s payout ratio is 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.