111 Capital Acquires New Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

111 Capital purchased a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,466 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,707,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Linde by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,589 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $24,110,000 after buying an additional 4,514 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 56,428 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $23,625,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $66,277,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $178,000. Finally, TFR Capital LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $311,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,725 shares of company stock worth $5,385,750 in the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded up $1.57 on Thursday, hitting $464.08. 1,306,820 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,957,461. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.45 billion, a PE ratio of 34.10, 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's 50 day moving average is $451.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $447.79.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.11.

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.