Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC Grows Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,132 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $3,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Linde by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,834,631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,604 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,598,551,000 after buying an additional 30,750 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Linde by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,857,741,000 after buying an additional 554,480 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $2,901,853,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Linde by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,818,608 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,598,737,000 after acquiring an additional 265,455 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $448.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock's fifty day moving average is $454.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $450.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $498.00.

Linde Company 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.

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