WCM Investment Management LLC Has $1.46 Billion Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

WCM Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,553,793 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 261,553 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up 4.0% of WCM Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,456,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,480,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd grew 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 worth $4,146,000 after buying an additional 6,172 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,679,000. Finally, Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,752,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN stock traded down $5.59 during trading on Friday, reaching $447.41. 1,976,740 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,267,283. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $350.60 and a twelve month high of $477.71. The company has a market capitalization of $215.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $450.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $415.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total transaction of $23,353,139.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,271,882.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total value of $23,353,139.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,271,882.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho raised their target price on Linde from $503.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $456.79.

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.