Sit Investment Associates Inc. Increases Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,315 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 4,968 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $13,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. lifted its stake in Linde by 85.2% during the fourth quarter. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Channel Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 7,385 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Linde by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Linde by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $898,188,000 after purchasing an additional 46,843 shares during the period. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $625,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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. Insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 in the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN traded down $8.82 during trading on Thursday, reaching $437.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,546,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,920,814. The company's fifty day moving average price is $457.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $452.58. The company has a market capitalization of $206.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, 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 quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Linde 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.