Vinva Investment Management Ltd Raises Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,779 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the third quarter worth about $252,000. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,715,000 after acquiring an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 101.3% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 348,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $166,415,000 after acquiring an additional 175,657 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 45,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,605,000 after acquiring an additional 6,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 760.7% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,962,000 after acquiring an additional 3,636 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $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 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $459.75 on Thursday. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $410.69 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $451.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

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.