Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by Smartleaf Asset Management LLC

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,964 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in Linde by 144.8% during 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 period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,285 shares of company stock valued at $7,423,986 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Linde Stock Up 1.5 %

LIN opened at $467.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $410.69 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $222.39 billion, a PE ratio of 34.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $440.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $454.96.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.