Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC Boosts Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,973,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,217,197,000 after acquiring an additional 154,792 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 372.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,567,958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,592,682 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $1,300,092,000 after acquiring an additional 89,408 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Linde by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $898,188,000 after purchasing an additional 46,843 shares during the period. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $703,482,000 after purchasing an additional 49,374 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on LIN shares. TD Cowen raised 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup cut their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of LIN opened at $459.09 on Tuesday. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week 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. The company’s fifty day moving average is $453.71 and its 200 day moving average is $454.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.11 billion, a PE ratio of 33.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business 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 is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

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.