NewEdge Wealth LLC Buys 442 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,222 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 372.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 2,293.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 749,763 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in Linde by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Linde by 131.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $296,342,000 after purchasing an additional 353,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV lifted its stake in Linde by 78.2% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 598,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,523,000 after purchasing an additional 262,691 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Trading Up 1.5 %

LIN opened at $467.05 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $440.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $454.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. 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 plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released 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 return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company’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 approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,285 shares of company stock worth $7,423,986. Company 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.