Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 109,366 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 6,125 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in Linde were worth $50,925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,901,853,000. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $2,128,233,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 58,312.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,415,935 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,590,596,000 after purchasing an additional 3,410,087 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings 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 worth $4,834,631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,604 shares during the period. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $468,360,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.11.
View Our Latest Analysis on LIN
Linde Price Performance
Shares of LIN stock traded down $1.31 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $472.46. The company had a trading volume of 699,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,960,325. The company has a market capitalization of $222.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.71, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $452.28 and a 200-day moving average of $448.21.
Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.75 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.
Linde Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.57%.
Insider Activity
In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.
Linde Profile
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Free Report)
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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