Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Purchases 52,511 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 135.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 91,374 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 52,511 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in Linde were worth $38,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Linde by 1,160.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LIN. Citigroup cut their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised 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 and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $501.82.

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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 dated 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 transaction, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock traded up $0.76 during trading on Monday, hitting $459.09. The company had a trading volume of 2,049,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,724,670. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $452.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $454.23. The company has a market cap of $217.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.73, 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, 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. 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 yield of 1.31%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

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.