Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 1,778 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,933 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,778 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Linde were worth $10,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 372.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,567,958,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased 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 buying an additional 1,096,041 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Linde by 2,293.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 749,763 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $308,251,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 467.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 827,979 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $374,780,000 after purchasing an additional 682,176 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. 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 research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Linde Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Linde stock traded up $0.58 during trading on Friday, reaching $458.33. 4,967,504 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,723,335. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $410.69 and a 1-year high of $487.49. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $216.75 billion, a PE ratio of 33.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $452.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $454.35.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Linde's payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.