Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Holdings Increased by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 17.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 873,884 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 129,173 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.18% of Linde worth $406,915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,834,631,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957,604 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,598,551,000 after purchasing an additional 30,750 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Linde by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,857,741,000 after purchasing an additional 554,480 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,901,853,000. Finally, Freemont Capital Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,128,233,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on LIN. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $518.80.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock traded down $1.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $468.81. 1,326,438 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,975,504. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $463.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $452.65. The company has a market capitalization of $220.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.05, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.96. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.57%.

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.