Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Holdings Lifted by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,630 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $17,429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $252,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $507,000. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 10,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,799,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. B&L Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,629,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $459.11 on Monday. 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 has a market capitalization of $217.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $456.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $454.14. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the 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 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.