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

Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,714 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,939 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $9,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its position in 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 valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 618.8% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $427.98. 2,202,255 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,468,112. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $438.67 and a 200 day moving average of $453.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.79 billion, a PE ratio of 32.50, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.63 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Linde's payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $495.75.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.