Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,118 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,301 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $24,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Linde by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,834,631,000 after buying an additional 2,957,604 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 0.3% during the 4th 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 lifted its holdings 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 worth $3,857,741,000 after buying an additional 554,480 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,901,853,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Linde by 11.3% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $498.00.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN traded down $5.44 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $447.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,439,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,934,081. The stock has a market capitalization 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. Linde plc has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $453.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $448.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.75 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.