Bessemer Group Inc. Has $13.99 Million Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 93.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,412 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 506,353 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $13,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,598,551,000 after purchasing an additional 30,750 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $2,901,853,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Linde by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,818,608 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,598,737,000 after acquiring an additional 265,455 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,105,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,300,092,000 after acquiring an additional 89,408 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Linde by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $898,188,000 after acquiring an additional 46,843 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Linde Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:LIN traded up $4.94 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $450.97. The stock had a trading volume of 2,266,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,465,122. Linde plc has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. 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 company has a market capitalization of $213.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $456.14 and a 200 day moving average of $451.57.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Linde's payout ratio is 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 over the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on LIN. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average 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.