Ancora Advisors LLC Buys 746 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,183 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $18,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Linde by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,834,631,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957,604 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,598,551,000 after buying an additional 30,750 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,857,741,000 after buying an additional 554,480 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth $2,901,853,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Linde by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,925,322 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,062,085,000 after acquiring an additional 500,489 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on LIN. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $498.00.

Linde Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $5.44 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $447.05. 1,439,178 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,934,081. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $453.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $448.97. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $211.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.75 EPS. The business's revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $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 valued at $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.