Signet Financial Management LLC Makes New $749,000 Investment in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Signet Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,788 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $749,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 1,733.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 618.8% during the 3rd 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of LIN stock traded up $7.28 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $421.43. 2,824,493 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,522,073. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The stock's 50 day moving average is $439.96 and its 200-day moving average is $453.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $200.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The company 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 was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $495.75.

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.

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