Criteria Caixa S.A.U. Purchases New Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Criteria Caixa S.A.U. acquired a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 102,690 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,993,000. Linde makes up approximately 6.1% of Criteria Caixa S.A.U.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

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

Linde Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $448.40 on Friday. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49. 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 company has a market capitalization of $212.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $454.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $450.38.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.