Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,613 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 652 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LIN. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $252,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in Linde by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,130,986,000 after purchasing an additional 56,775 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $775,000. Finally, SpiderRock Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC now owns 1,934 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $923,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,377 shares of company stock valued at $6,567,231. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $462.06 on Tuesday. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $410.69 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $445.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $455.24.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. 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 an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

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.