JGP Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

JGP Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LIN. StrongBox Wealth LLC increased its position in Linde by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. StrongBox Wealth LLC now owns 9,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,006,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the period. Financial Enhancement Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $11,214,000. Flywheel Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $230,000. RMR Wealth Builders raised its stake in Linde by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 3,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,594,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas lifted its holdings in Linde by 94.8% in the fourth quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their price target 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. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.75.

Linde Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $436.00 on Friday. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $396.07 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $207.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $437.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $452.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

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.