Stifel Financial Corp Buys 561 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 585,593 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 561 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.12% of Linde worth $245,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Linde by 85.2% in the fourth quarter. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Channel Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 7,385 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 46,843 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $88,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $625,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.3 %

Linde stock traded down $1.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $448.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,865,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,949,184. The firm has a market cap of $212.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $454.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $450.51.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Equities analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.09%.

Insider Activity at Linde

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on LIN. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen raised 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $498.00.

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.