Premier Fund Managers Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,459 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 3,390 shares during the quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Linde were worth $20,231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $2,901,853,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 372.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,567,958,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted 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 valued at $459,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,041 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 2,293.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 749,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $308,251,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.7 %

LIN stock opened at $464.73 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $455.63 and its 200 day moving average is $454.31. The firm has a market cap of $219.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year 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.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change 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 1.29%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LIN. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

About Linde

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.