Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,714 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,939 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $9,091,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in 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 period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Linde during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 1,733.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 618.8% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho raised 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.75.

Linde Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of LIN stock opened at $427.29 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $438.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $453.08. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.