ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Purchases New Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 27,911 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $11,685,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Wrapmanager Inc. lifted its stake in Linde by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA increased its stake in shares of Linde by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,999,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Fourpath Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. This 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 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN traded down $14.62 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $431.36. The stock had a trading volume of 742,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,917,745. The stock has a market cap of $203.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $457.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $452.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. 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 released 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 net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. On average, research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. This is an increase from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised 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 research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $501.82.

About Linde

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.