Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Linde by 372.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,567,958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,592,682 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 56,467.9% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,097,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $459,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,041 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 2,293.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,593,000 after acquiring an additional 749,763 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $308,251,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 467.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 827,979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,780,000 after acquiring an additional 682,176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of LIN opened at $464.73 on Friday. 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 plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $455.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $454.31. The company has a market capitalization of $219.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

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.