Capital International Ltd. CA Raises Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Capital International Ltd. CA lifted its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA’s holdings in Linde were worth $18,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in Linde by 144.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $452.12 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $455.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $451.37. Linde plc has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $213.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. 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 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 net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 over the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.