Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by RMR Wealth Builders

RMR Wealth Builders raised its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders’ holdings in Linde were worth $1,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,973,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,217,197,000 after acquiring an additional 154,792 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Linde by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,449,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,513,551,000 after purchasing an additional 15,187 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 372.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,567,958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,592,682 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 7.6% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,112,160 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,365,647,000 after purchasing an additional 218,746 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,015,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,438,154,000 after buying an additional 50,882 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 1.4 %

LIN traded down $5.86 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $414.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,642,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,470,674. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $440.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $453.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $197.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. Mizuho upped their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup decreased their price objective 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. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.75.

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.