LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 242,183 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,692 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Linde worth $101,395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 1,160.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in shares of Linde by 144.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insider Activity
In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.
Linde Stock Down 1.2 %
NASDAQ LIN traded down $5.62 on Friday, reaching $459.11. The company had a trading volume of 1,334,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,876,018. The company's fifty day moving average is $456.09 and its 200-day moving average is $454.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $410.69 and a 1-year high of $487.49.
Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Linde Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. 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 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LIN. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $501.82.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Linde
Linde Profile
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Free Report)
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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