Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Increases Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 204,327 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,177 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec's holdings in Linde were worth $85,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,023,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,831 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $590,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in Linde by 215.0% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 7,619 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,633,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Linde by 13.5% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,024 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,549,000 after buying an additional 2,381 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN traded down $2.46 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $452.49. 1,462,119 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,934,450. The stock has a market cap of $213.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $453.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $449.21. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49. 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 earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.75 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders 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 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.