Virtu Financial LLC Buys 2,498 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Virtu Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 116.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,644 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,498 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $252,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $5,536,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Linde by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 70,422 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,581,000 after acquiring an additional 2,772 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,757,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $859,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $458.33 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $452.96 and a 200-day moving average of $454.35. The company has a market cap of $216.75 billion, a PE ratio of 33.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s payout ratio is 44.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

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.