Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 605,224 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 69,929 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for about 0.6% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.13% of Linde worth $253,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth about $252,000. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,693 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,715,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Linde by 101.3% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 348,981 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $166,415,000 after purchasing an additional 175,657 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 45,069 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $21,605,000 after purchasing an additional 6,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 760.7% during the third quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,114 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,962,000 after buying an additional 3,636 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
NASDAQ LIN opened at $459.75 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $451.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $454.61. The company has a market cap of $217.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
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 $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.09%.
A number of brokerages have commented on LIN. TD Cowen raised shares of 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. Citigroup cut their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $501.82.
View Our Latest Research Report on LIN
In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their position. 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. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.
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.
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