Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Acquires 11,252 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 744,711 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,252 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.16% of Linde worth $311,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,901,853,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 56,467.9% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,097,982 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $459,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,041 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Linde by 2,293.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $327,593,000 after purchasing an additional 749,763 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $308,251,000. Finally, Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $306,585,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Up 2.7 %

LIN stock traded up $11.72 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $443.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,055,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,928,865. The company has a market capitalization of $209.78 billion, a PE ratio of 32.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $456.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $452.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LIN. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $501.82.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is 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.