Nebula Research & Development LLC Acquires 4,401 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Nebula Research & Development LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 178.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,871 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,401 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $2,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,901,853,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in Linde by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,834,631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,604 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Linde by 56,467.9% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,097,982 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $459,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,041 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Linde by 2,293.0% in the fourth 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 stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $308,251,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $448.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,641,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,949,429. 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 $211.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.92, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm's 50-day moving average is $454.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $450.24.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Linde's payout ratio is 44.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.