Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Buys 1,255 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Linde were worth $15,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. S&CO Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 26,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,021,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in Linde by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 18,791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,867,000 after buying an additional 1,229 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 10,613 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,444,000 after buying an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Research LLC lifted its position in Linde by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 66,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,848,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in Linde by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,127 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $891,000 after buying an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of LIN opened at $462.06 on Tuesday. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $218.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $445.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $455.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. On average, analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. 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 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on LIN. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

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.