Meridian Wealth Management LLC Acquires 222 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,023 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mission Wealth Management LP increased its position in Linde by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 2,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,453,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $121,442,000. Finally, Bellecapital International Ltd. lifted its position in Linde by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 771 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,377 shares of company stock valued at $6,567,231 over the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Trading Down 0.2 %

LIN opened at $461.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $218.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $442.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $455.07. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released 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 return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Linde 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.