Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Buys 249 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 30.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,059 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 154,792 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $1,567,958,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 3.0% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 89,408 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Linde by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $898,188,000 after purchasing an additional 46,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 49,374 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of LIN stock opened at $464.73 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $455.63 and a 200-day moving average of $454.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $219.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a PEG 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.

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 net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Company 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.