Groupama Asset Managment Grows Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 23.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,235 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,162 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Linde were worth $9,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. May Hill Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $258,000. Lokken Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 2,630 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,101,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. PFC Capital Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Linde by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. PFC Capital Group Inc. now owns 2,492 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,598,551,000 after acquiring an additional 30,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its stake in Linde by 436.7% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 161 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value 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 trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % 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. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock traded down $29.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $437.96. The company had a trading volume of 4,430,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,894,446. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $458.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $454.32. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $410.69 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $207.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.09%.

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.