Argentarii LLC Makes New $242,000 Investment in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Argentarii LLC acquired a new position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 578 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,305,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 5,023 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,103,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 7,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,936,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Hamilton Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $4,469,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $486,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,377 shares of company stock worth $6,567,231 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen raised 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $468.77 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $444.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $455.24. 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 company has a market cap of $221.69 billion, a PE ratio of 34.44, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week 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, 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, analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

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.