Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Buys 49 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,377 shares of company stock worth $6,567,231. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $461.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $218.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $442.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $455.07. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $410.69 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. As a group, research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s payout ratio is 44.09%.

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.