Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 126,110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $52,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on LIN. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded 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 given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $498.00.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $452.12 on Friday. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $213.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, 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. The company has a 50-day moving average of $455.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $451.21.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. As a group, research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

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.