Legacy Bridge LLC Acquires New Position in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN)

Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new stake in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN – Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 139 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its stake in Linde by 92.3% in the third quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 125 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Accurate Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP boosted its stake in Linde by 1,809.1% in the third quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. 78.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. HSBC lifted their target price on Linde from $375.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Friday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Linde from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Linde from $355.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Linde from $375.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Linde from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $370.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 4,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.17, for a total value of $1,462,290.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,036,953.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LIN opened at $330.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $162.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.06, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.84. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $262.47 and a 12 month high of $362.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $334.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $315.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Linde (NYSE:LIN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $7.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.49 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 12.43%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 13.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 14th will be issued a $1.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 13th. This represents a $5.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.17. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.82%.

Linde Company Profile

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Linde Plc is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It designs and builds equipment that produces industrial gases and offers customers a wide range of gas production and processing services such as olefin plants, natural gas plants, air separation plants, hydrogen and synthesis gas plants and other types of plants.