Lifeworks Advisors LLC Has $389,000 Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Lifeworks Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in Linde by 144.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 38.6% during the 4th quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on 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 reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Linde Trading Up 0.6 %

LIN stock opened at $468.77 on Friday. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $221.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $444.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $455.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,377 shares of company stock worth $6,567,231 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.