Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Acquires 114 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wrapmanager Inc. grew its stake in Linde by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $709,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA grew its stake 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 valued at $1,999,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. 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 grew its stake in Linde by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,377 shares of company stock worth $6,567,231. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $454.07 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $446.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $455.16. 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 one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $214.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.36, a P/E/G 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 the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective 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. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

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.