Ramirez Asset Management Inc. Has $3.63 Million Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Ramirez Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,669 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LIN. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup cut their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $464.73 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $455.63 and its 200-day moving average is $454.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS 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%. Equities research 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 was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

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.