Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,818,608 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 265,455 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.80% of Linde worth $1,598,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 81,657 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,187,000 after buying an additional 1,386 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $48,260,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 3,681 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,541,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Linde by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 744,711 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $311,788,000 after acquiring an additional 11,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 2,775 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,162,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded up $9.95 on Friday, hitting $441.83. The stock had a trading volume of 3,342,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,938,062. The stock has a market cap of $208.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company's 50 day moving average price is $456.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $452.01.

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, beating 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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 company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup decreased their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $498.00.

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.