EdgeRock Capital LLC Invests $123,000 in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 301 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Provence Wealth Management Group lifted its position in Linde by 655.7% in the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $203,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning acquired a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,480,000. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,045,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $464.69.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded up $3.38 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $430.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,549,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,218,466. The company has a market capitalization of $206.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.36, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $454.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $424.19. Linde plc has a one year low of $350.60 and a one year high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.38 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 over the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.