Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC Buys 5,550 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 232,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,550 shares during the period. Linde accounts for 1.4% of Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $97,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the sale, the vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $442.60 on Thursday. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $210.75 billion, a PE ratio of 33.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $436.18 and a 200-day moving average of $453.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

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.