NewEdge Advisors LLC Purchases 1,532 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,495 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,532 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $17,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. increased its position in Linde by 85.2% during the fourth quarter. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Channel Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 7,385 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Linde by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $898,188,000 after acquiring an additional 46,843 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in Linde by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $88,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $625,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $498.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were 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 represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN traded up $4.13 on Friday, hitting $452.12. 1,726,051 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,947,178. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $213.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $455.45 and a 200-day moving average of $451.04.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.