Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Cuts Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,806 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,448 shares during the period. Linde makes up 1.1% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Linde were worth $41,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $468,000. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $910,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth $4,524,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 605,224 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $253,389,000 after purchasing an additional 69,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zeno Equity Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Zeno Equity Partners LLP now owns 74,378 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,140,000 after purchasing an additional 2,734 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $501.82.

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Insider Activity 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 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 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 over the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $459.09. 2,049,518 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,724,670. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49. 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 has a market cap of $217.11 billion, a PE ratio of 33.73, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company's fifty day moving average is $453.71 and its 200-day moving average is $454.18.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

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.