Beck Mack & Oliver LLC Has $3.47 Million Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Beck Mack & Oliver LLC raised its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 20.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,416 shares during the quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of LIN opened at $452.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $213.81 billion, a PE ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $455.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $451.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced 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, analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on LIN. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Argus raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of 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 assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $498.00.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. 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 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.