CWA Asset Management Group LLC Takes Position in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde plc (NYSE:LIN – Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 766 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its stake in Linde by 92.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 125 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP boosted its stake in Linde by 1,809.1% during the 3rd quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. bought a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Institutional investors own 78.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $375.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Linde from $370.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Linde from $346.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Linde from $402.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Linde from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $370.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 4,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.17, for a total value of $1,462,290.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,036,953.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $330.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $162.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.06, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.84. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $262.47 and a 1-year high of $362.74. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $334.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $315.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Linde (NYSE:LIN – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.25. Linde had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 14.95%. The firm had revenue of $7.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 13.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.275 per share. This represents a $5.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.17. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is 61.82%.

Linde Company Profile

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Linde Plc is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It designs and builds equipment that produces industrial gases and offers customers a wide range of gas production and processing services such as olefin plants, natural gas plants, air separation plants, hydrogen and synthesis gas plants and other types of plants.