Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Grows Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,812,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up 1.5% of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.80% of Linde worth $1,596,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. raised its position in Linde by 85.2% during the fourth quarter. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Channel Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 7,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $898,188,000 after purchasing an additional 46,843 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $88,505,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $625,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $447.99 on Thursday. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $455.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $451.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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 worth $5,603,843 over the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Argus raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $498.00.

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.