Aviva PLC Lowers Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Aviva PLC lowered its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 555,974 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 74,448 shares during the period. Linde accounts for about 0.6% of Aviva PLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Aviva PLC owned about 0.12% of Linde worth $232,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised 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 lifted their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Stock Down 3.0 %

LIN stock traded down $13.22 during trading on Thursday, reaching $432.75. 1,414,400 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,920,154. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $457.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $452.58. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49. 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 company has a market capitalization of $204.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. On average, equities 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.