Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Holdings Boosted by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,378 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,480,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd lifted its holdings in Linde by 156.3% in the 4th quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 10,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,146,000 after acquiring an additional 6,172 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,679,000. Finally, Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,752,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $445.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 164,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,267,581. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $350.60 and a fifty-two week high of $477.71. The company has a market capitalization of $214.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $451.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $416.84.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LIN. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $456.79.

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.