Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 56,467.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,097,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,096,041 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Linde worth $459,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $461.40 on Thursday. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $439.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $454.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $219.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share 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, analysts anticipate 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 issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was 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 owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,285 shares of company stock worth $7,423,986 over the last three months. Corporate 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.