Wealthfront Advisers LLC Increases Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,776 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $19,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its position in Linde by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $501.82.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,377 shares of company stock worth $6,567,231 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $454.07 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $446.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $455.16. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $214.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. On average, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

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.

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