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

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

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Linde by 1.4% in 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 grew 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. raised its position in shares of Linde by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,105,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,300,092,000 after acquiring an additional 89,408 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.2% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $703,482,000 after purchasing an additional 49,374 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN stock opened at $458.33 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $452.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $454.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $410.69 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.75 billion, a PE ratio of 33.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

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, 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

About Linde

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.