Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by Providence Capital Advisors LLC

Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,056 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 129 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for 1.4% of Providence Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Providence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $7,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $507,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Linde by 2,191.7% in the 3rd quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,580,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Linde by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 17,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,556,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LIN. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised 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 research report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ: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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $455.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $454.31. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its 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 predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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