Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Jump Financial LLC

Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 300.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,150 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,618 shares during the quarter. Jump Financial LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $10,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Wrapmanager Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $114,000 after buying 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 valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA lifted 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 worth $1,999,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourpath Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,732,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $498.00.

Linde Stock Up 0.9 %

LIN traded up $4.13 on Friday, hitting $452.12. 1,726,051 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,943,223. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $455.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $451.37. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49. 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 company has a market cap of $213.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

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.