Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. Purchases 155 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. lifted its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,142 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD.’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Linde Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of LIN opened at $452.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $455.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $451.37.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS 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%. On average, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of Linde 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 owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Argus raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $498.00.

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.