United Services Automobile Association Has $4.71 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

United Services Automobile Association cut its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 91 shares during the quarter. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its holdings in Linde by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 39,278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,445,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Clune & Associates LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $206,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Linde by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 242,183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $101,395,000 after buying an additional 24,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,928,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $458.33 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $452.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $454.23. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Insider Activity at Linde

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

About Linde

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.