Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Capital Research Global Investors

Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 554,480 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors owned approximately 1.94% of Linde worth $3,857,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. TD Cowen upgraded 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Argus raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $498.00.

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $452.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $455.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $451.21. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $213.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced 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 expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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 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.