Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Holdings Lifted by World Investment Advisors

World Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 32.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Linde were worth $689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,901,853,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 56,467.9% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,097,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $459,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,041 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 2,293.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,593,000 after buying an additional 749,763 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $308,251,000. Finally, Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $306,585,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’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 value of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Linde Trading Down 6.3 %

Linde stock opened at $437.96 on Monday. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.25 and a one year high of $487.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $458.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $453.85. The company has a market capitalization of $207.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

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.