Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Takes $1.66 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,971 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,662,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% during the fourth 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 acquired a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in Linde by 144.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Linde Trading Up 0.9 %

LIN stock traded up $4.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $452.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,726,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,943,223. The firm has a market cap of $213.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $455.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $451.37.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

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.