Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC Has $52.99 Million Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC cut its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 126,568 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,637 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up approximately 3.6% of Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $52,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Argus raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $498.00.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 over the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $454.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $455.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $450.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results 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, equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.