Petros Family Wealth LLC Invests $302,000 in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Petros Family Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 722 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of LIN stock traded up $6.10 on Thursday, reaching $454.09. 840,665 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,936,904. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $214.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.36, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business's 50 day moving average price is $455.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $451.54.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's payout ratio is 44.09%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction 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 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 90 days, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 research report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $498.00.

About Linde

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.