Main Street Research LLC Boosts Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Main Street Research LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 986 shares during the period. Linde comprises approximately 2.0% of Main Street Research LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $24,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LIN. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,984,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,103,185,000 after purchasing an additional 372,780 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 2.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,919,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,182,870,000 after acquiring an additional 354,506 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Linde by 6.0% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,587,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,315,068,000 after purchasing an additional 488,655 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth $2,409,138,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in Linde by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,508,547 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,480,277,000 after purchasing an additional 479,188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $443.82. 645,608 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,274,364. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $350.60 and a 12-month high of $477.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $451.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $416.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.93.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.16 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Citigroup cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $456.79.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.