Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Holdings Increased by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 61.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 409,362 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 156,454 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.09% of Linde worth $171,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wrapmanager Inc. boosted its position in shares of Linde by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $709,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised its position in shares of Linde by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fourpath Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 0.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Trading Up 0.9 %

LIN stock traded up $4.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $452.12. 1,726,051 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,946,714. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $455.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $451.21. The company has a market capitalization of $213.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the 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 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. Insiders sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

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.