LPL Financial LLC Has $101.40 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 242,183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 24,692 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $101,395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $252,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Linde by 212.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 12.7% during the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 68.5% in the 3rd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 2,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Associated Banc Corp bought a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $457.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.33 billion, a PE ratio of 33.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $454.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $454.19. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $410.69 and a twelve month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Equities analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.