Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by Norinchukin Bank The

Norinchukin Bank The boosted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,957 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 3,016 shares during the quarter. Norinchukin Bank The's holdings in Linde were worth $31,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $252,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Linde by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,898,000 after buying an additional 5,021 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,023,000. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at about $459,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Linde by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,831 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ:LIN traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $448.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,077,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,943,829. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $454.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $450.75. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $211.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.92, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (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 analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

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.