480 Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Bought by Crowley Wealth Management Inc.

Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $458.33 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $452.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $454.35. 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 has a market cap of $216.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 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, sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was 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 valued at $5,603,843. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

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.