Merit Financial Group LLC Has $4.17 Million Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 25.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 16.9% in the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Linde by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $652,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 2.9% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $406,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $436.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $436.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $452.82. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Five 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.75.

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.