State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Has $132.28 Million Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury decreased its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 315,942 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 6,390 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury owned approximately 0.07% of Linde worth $132,275,000 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 business. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Linde by 1,160.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.3 %

LIN stock traded down $1.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $448.40. The stock had a trading volume of 1,865,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,947,159. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.95, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $454.71 and a 200 day moving average of $450.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target 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, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $498.00.

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.