CFO4Life Group LLC Has $235,000 Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

CFO4Life Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 43 shares during the quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Linde by 372.8% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 56,467.9% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,097,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $459,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,041 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Linde by 2,293.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,593,000 after purchasing an additional 749,763 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $308,251,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in Linde by 467.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 827,979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,780,000 after purchasing an additional 682,176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $453.26 on Friday. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $447.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $455.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $214.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued 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 return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. On average, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on LIN. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,377 shares of company stock valued at $6,567,231 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde 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.