Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Purchases 682,176 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 467.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 827,979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 682,176 shares during the period. Linde makes up about 1.2% of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Linde were worth $374,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Wrapmanager Inc. raised its position in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA increased its position in Linde by 0.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Fourpath Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company raised its holdings in Linde by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 2,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in Linde by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $468.77 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $444.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $455.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $221.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. On average, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 14,377 shares of company stock worth $6,567,231 over the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.