Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stake Increased by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Linde were worth $15,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LIN. S&CO Inc. increased its position in Linde by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 26,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,021,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in Linde by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 18,791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,867,000 after buying an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in Linde by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 10,613 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,444,000 after buying an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Research LLC increased its position in Linde by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 66,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,848,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Linde by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,127 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $891,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on LIN shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde 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 in the company, 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. Insiders sold a total of 14,377 shares of company stock valued at $6,567,231 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of LIN opened at $462.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $218.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $445.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $455.24.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

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.