Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,657 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $34,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Linde Stock Up 2.3 %

LIN stock traded up $9.95 during trading on Friday, hitting $441.83. 3,342,916 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,937,907. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $456.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $451.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.46, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change 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 1.36%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.09%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm's 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on LIN shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.