Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Capital International Investors

Capital International Investors lessened its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,407,538 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 155,547 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned 1.98% of Linde worth $3,938,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position 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 stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the 4th 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 purchased a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $498.00.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $8.14 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $446.47. The company had a trading volume of 670,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,940,147. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $455.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $450.77. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $211.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

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.