Bridgefront Capital LLC Makes New $864,000 Investment in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,064 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $864,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $590,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Linde by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $898,188,000 after acquiring an additional 46,843 shares during the last quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 598 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,065 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,702,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $452.56. 1,058,910 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,931,786. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.03 billion, a PE ratio of 33.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. 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 business's 50-day moving average is $452.32 and its 200-day moving average is $448.76. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is 43.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

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.