PGGM Investments Purchases 142,200 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

PGGM Investments lifted its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 344.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 183,478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 142,200 shares during the period. Linde comprises approximately 1.1% of PGGM Investments’ portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Linde were worth $75,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 122.6% in the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 310.0% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its stake in Linde by 42.2% in the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on LIN shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $456.79.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 in the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of LIN traded down $0.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $443.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,583,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,507,545. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $456.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $420.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $350.60 and a 52-week high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.13%.

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.