Mizuho Securities USA LLC Acquires 13,957 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 44.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 45,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,957 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $18,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $252,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,536,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 70,422 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,581,000 after acquiring an additional 2,772 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in Linde by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,757,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Linde by 202.8% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,476,000 after acquiring an additional 7,691 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ LIN opened at $458.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $216.75 billion, a PE ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $452.96 and a 200-day moving average of $454.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Company 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.