Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC Sells 9,637 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC lessened its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 126,568 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 9,637 shares during the period. Linde makes up about 3.6% of Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $52,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,901,853,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Linde by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,834,631,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957,604 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Linde by 56,467.9% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,097,982 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $459,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,041 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Linde by 2,293.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $327,593,000 after acquiring an additional 749,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $308,251,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on LIN. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $498.00.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded down $1.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $448.40. 1,865,299 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,949,182. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $212.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.95, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $454.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $450.51.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

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.