NewEdge Wealth LLC Boosts Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,222 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 442 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 372.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,567,958,000 after buying an additional 2,592,682 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Linde by 2,293.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $327,593,000 after buying an additional 749,763 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in Linde by 108.7% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Linde by 131.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $296,342,000 after purchasing an additional 353,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV boosted its stake in Linde by 78.2% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 598,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $285,523,000 after purchasing an additional 262,691 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the 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 owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,285 shares of company stock valued at $7,423,986. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $467.05 on Friday. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $440.68 and its 200 day moving average is $454.93. The stock has a market cap of $222.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, 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 quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho increased 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup cut their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

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.