Baird Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 167,132 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $69,973,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $2,901,853,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Linde by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,834,631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,604 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 56,467.9% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,097,982 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $459,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,041 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Linde by 2,293.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $327,593,000 after buying an additional 749,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $308,251,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report 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 raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $503.11.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded up $2.61 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $449.66. 1,573,880 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,934,149. The stock has a market cap of $211.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.04, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. 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 $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The firm's fifty day moving average is $452.50 and its 200-day moving average is $448.97.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.75 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.57%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. Company 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.