Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by SRS Capital Advisors Inc.

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 110.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wrapmanager Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA boosted its position in Linde by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,999,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Fourpath Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Linde by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company grew its stake in Linde by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 2,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup decreased their target price 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, TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three 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.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,285 shares of company stock valued at $7,423,986. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $467.05 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.39 billion, a PE ratio of 34.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $440.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $454.99.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS 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 given a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.