Aigen Investment Management LP Purchases Shares of 4,480 Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,480 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,876,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Linde by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,098,000 after buying an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Linde by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,900 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $33,451,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Linde by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 55,114 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $23,075,000 after buying an additional 2,456 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co increased its position in Linde by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 5,068 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,118,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $260,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LIN. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $501.82.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 bought at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares of the company's stock, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,377 shares of company stock worth $6,567,231. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock traded up $2.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $468.77. 1,823,990 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,339,896. The company has a market cap of $221.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50 day moving average is $444.80 and its 200 day moving average is $455.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $410.69 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. On average, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Linde Profile

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.