Summit Financial LLC Grows Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Summit Financial LLC grew its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LIN. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Linde by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,973,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,217,197,000 after purchasing an additional 154,792 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,901,853,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Linde by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,105,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,300,092,000 after buying an additional 89,408 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Linde by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $898,188,000 after acquiring an additional 46,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd raised its position in Linde by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,680,279 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $703,482,000 after acquiring an additional 49,374 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $465.64 on Tuesday. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $220.21 billion, a PE ratio of 34.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $456.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $454.13.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % 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 90 days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lowered their price objective 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.