Segment Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Segment Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 30,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $12,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aspiriant LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth $348,000. Chesapeake Wealth Management increased its position in Linde by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 1,682 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC increased its position in Linde by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 17,779 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,444,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Linde by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,785 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,259,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $436.00 on Tuesday. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $207.61 billion, a PE ratio of 33.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $436.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $453.12.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.75.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.