Venture Visionary Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 319.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,960 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 82,982 shares during the period. Linde accounts for 1.4% of Venture Visionary Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Venture Visionary Partners LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $45,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wrapmanager Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,999,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourpath Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,732,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

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Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN traded up $5.66 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $431.52. The company had a trading volume of 978,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,899,722. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $204.07 billion, a PE ratio of 31.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $457.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $453.54. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. TD Cowen raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the 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 approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

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.