1,989 Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Purchased by Clarendon Private LLC

Clarendon Private LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Consolidated Investment Group LLC grew its position in Linde by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,099,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Affinity Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Linde by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Affinity Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,569,000 after buying an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in Linde by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Linde by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 1,158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC now owns 64,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,031,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.4 %

LIN stock opened at $439.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $435.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $453.05. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. Citigroup reduced their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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.