BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments Buys New Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments purchased a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,200 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,171,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at $590,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Linde by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $898,188,000 after buying an additional 46,843 shares during the period. Capital Market Strategies LLC raised its position in Linde by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 598 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Linde by 38.6% during the 4th quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Insight Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,065 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,702,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $498.00.

Linde Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $454.95 on Monday. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $453.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $449.21. The firm has a market cap of $215.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.75 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors 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 1.32%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

About Linde

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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