US Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 3,330 Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

US Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,368,000. Linde comprises approximately 1.4% of US Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in Linde by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,164 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,300,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $951,000 after buying an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $123,000. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $221,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on LIN. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. HSBC cut their target price on Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. UBS Group downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $464.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total value of $23,353,139.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,634 shares in the company, valued at $26,271,882.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total value of $23,353,139.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,271,882.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 77,948 shares of company stock worth $35,687,605. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ LIN traded up $3.42 on Friday, reaching $433.28. The stock had a trading volume of 488,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,184,393. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $350.60 and a 12-month high of $477.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $453.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $424.26.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The business had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

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.