J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Purchases 10,130 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 24.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,038 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,130 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Linde were worth $21,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related 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 transaction 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. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were 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 directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 over the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $1.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $448.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,865,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,947,159. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $454.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $450.65. The company has a market capitalization of $212.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. 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 fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.