Nordea Investment Management AB Acquires 46,843 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 46,843 shares during the period. Linde comprises approximately 0.9% of Nordea Investment Management AB's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.45% of Linde worth $898,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Linde by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 1.7% during the third quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 0.9% during the third quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,290,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the third quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $873,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 5.2% in the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 482 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Down 0.1 %

LIN stock traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $412.91. 2,630,576 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,246,074. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $445.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $454.18. The firm has a market cap of $196.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde's payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $490.75.

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.