Choate Investment Advisors Purchases 5,025 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Choate Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 20.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,025 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Linde were worth $12,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Linde by 1,160.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Linde Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $455.50 on Friday. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $410.69 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $448.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $454.91. The company has a market cap of $215.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,377 shares of company stock valued at $6,567,231 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.