Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by Horizon Investments LLC

Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,710 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Wrapmanager Inc. grew its stake in Linde by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA grew its position in shares of Linde by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,999,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,732,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Austin Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, 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 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased 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. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $460.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $410.69 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $449.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $454.70.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 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.