Capital World Investors Has $4.83 Billion Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 34.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,957,604 shares during the period. Capital World Investors’ holdings in Linde were worth $4,834,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Linde by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,062,295 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $863,406,000 after buying an additional 151,711 shares during the period. Dnca Finance increased its stake in shares of Linde by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Dnca Finance now owns 80,640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,762,000 after acquiring an additional 17,860 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 595,775 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $249,433,000 after acquiring an additional 114,271 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its position in Linde by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 4,158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,741,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Ltd. CA grew its stake in Linde by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 44,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $18,498,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $452.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $455.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $451.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its 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, equities analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $498.00.

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.