Avanza Fonder AB Takes $21.07 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 44,860 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,073,000. Linde accounts for approximately 0.7% of Avanza Fonder AB’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Linde by 1,160.0% during the fourth 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 period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.1%

Linde stock opened at $472.17 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $452.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $448.63.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.75 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.11.

Linde Company 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.