Enterprise Financial Services Corp Reduces Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Enterprise Financial Services Corp cut its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 28 shares during the quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp’s holdings in Linde were worth $261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,377 shares of company stock worth $6,567,231. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of LIN stock opened at $468.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.69 billion, a PE ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $444.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $455.29. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 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%. Equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

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.