Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Consolidated Investment Group LLC

Consolidated Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 48.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Consolidated Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Affinity Wealth Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $4,569,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 1,158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC increased its stake in Linde by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC now owns 64,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,031,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its position in Linde by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were 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 approximately $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $439.25 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $435.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $453.05. The company has a market cap of $209.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.35, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. Linde plc has a one year low of $396.07 and a one year high of $487.49.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

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

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.