Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by Primecap Management Co. CA

Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 277,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Linde were worth $115,972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Linde by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 20,004 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,880 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC now owns 32,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,748,000 after purchasing an additional 2,105 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its stake in shares of Linde by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 498,640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $208,766,000 after purchasing an additional 152,944 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 4,382 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,835,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First National Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 9,578 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,010,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Linde Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $460.71 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $217.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $450.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.57. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. 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.