Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Position Raised by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 32,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $13,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the third quarter worth about $252,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in shares of Linde by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,130,986,000 after purchasing an additional 56,775 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 249 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Linde by 3.1% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,736 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $828,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $1,280,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $451.17 on Thursday. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $213.36 billion, a PE ratio of 33.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $447.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $455.13.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,377 shares of company stock worth $6,567,231. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.