Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. Buys 1,800 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. grew its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Linde accounts for 4.6% of Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $29,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at about $252,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $5,536,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 70,422 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,581,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its position in shares of Linde by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,757,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 202.8% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,476,000 after purchasing an additional 7,691 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock opened at $458.33 on Friday. 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 $216.75 billion, a PE ratio of 33.68, 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. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $452.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $454.49.

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 the consensus estimate 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 expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.