Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Bought by Tredje AP fonden

Tredje AP fonden grew its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 115,382 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,067 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Linde were worth $48,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at $252,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in shares of Linde by 2.4% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,130,986,000 after purchasing an additional 56,775 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Linde by 50.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 249 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 3.1% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,736 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $828,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at about $1,280,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $451.17 on Thursday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $447.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $455.13. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $213.36 billion, a PE ratio of 33.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. 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 1.33%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,377 shares of company stock valued at $6,567,231. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

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.