Delta Financial Group Inc. Purchases 100 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Delta Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Delta Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $630,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in Linde by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 147.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 32,698 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $15,592,000 after purchasing an additional 19,459 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its stake in Linde by 5.0% during the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 9,004 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,294,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its holdings in Linde by 247.8% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 1,965 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $940,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $458.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $218.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $436.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $454.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,285 shares of company stock worth $7,423,986. 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.