3,961 Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Acquired by Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd.

Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,961 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,658,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Linde by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,834,631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,604 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,598,551,000 after acquiring an additional 30,750 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Linde by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,857,741,000 after purchasing an additional 554,480 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $2,901,853,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Linde by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,925,322 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,062,085,000 after purchasing an additional 500,489 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on LIN. Argus raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.11.

Linde Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $453.23 on Friday. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $452.32 and its 200 day moving average is $448.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.