Prudential PLC Reduces Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Prudential PLC lowered its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,057 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,761 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,598,551,000 after buying an additional 30,750 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth $2,901,853,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,105,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,300,092,000 after purchasing an additional 89,408 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Linde by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $898,188,000 after purchasing an additional 46,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in Linde by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,680,279 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $703,482,000 after purchasing an additional 49,374 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Down 6.3 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $437.96 on Friday. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $458.22 and a 200 day moving average of $453.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $207.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 1.37%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. 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.