Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. cut its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,060 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,280 shares during the period. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $7,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. grew its position in Linde by 85.2% during the 4th quarter. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Channel Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 7,385 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Linde by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $898,188,000 after acquiring an additional 46,843 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $88,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $625,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $498.00.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $443.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $455.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $450.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.61, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) 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, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. 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. 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.

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