Rathbones Group PLC Sells 2,565 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Rathbones Group PLC cut its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 536,875 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,565 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for about 1.1% of Rathbones Group PLC's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Rathbones Group PLC owned about 0.11% of Linde worth $224,773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,818,608 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,598,737,000 after buying an additional 265,455 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Linde by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 81,657 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,386 shares during the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,260,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 3,681 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 744,711 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $311,788,000 after purchasing an additional 11,252 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $498.00.

Linde Trading Up 2.3 %

Linde stock traded up $9.95 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $441.83. The company had a trading volume of 3,342,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,938,062. 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 plc has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $456.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $452.01. The firm has a market cap of $208.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

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.