Convergence Financial LLC Has $667,000 Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Convergence Financial LLC lessened its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,593 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 39 shares during the quarter. Convergence Financial LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 5,222 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $213,000. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,277,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its holdings in Linde by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 33,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,966,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in Linde by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,167,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,285 shares of company stock worth $7,423,986. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $461.40 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $439.02 and a 200 day moving average of $454.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.85%.

Linde Company 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.