Onefund LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Onefund LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,310 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Onefund LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $548,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research 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 on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Four equities 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, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $467.05 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 company has a market cap of $222.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $440.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $454.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,285 shares of company stock valued at $7,423,986. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.