Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Increases Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 211,395 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina's holdings in Linde were worth $88,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,901,853,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 56,467.9% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,097,982 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $459,692,000 after buying an additional 1,096,041 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Linde by 2,293.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $327,593,000 after buying an additional 749,763 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $308,251,000. Finally, Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $306,585,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on LIN. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup decreased their price target 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 upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $498.00.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN traded up $5.95 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $451.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,205,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,934,954. The company has a market cap of $213.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.21, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $456.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $451.57. 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 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Linde's payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % 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 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

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.