Compass Capital Management Inc. Has $58.65 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Compass Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 10.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,958 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,757 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for about 3.9% of Compass Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Compass Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $58,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 30,750 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 554,480 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,901,853,000. Finally, Freemont Capital Pte Ltd bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,128,233,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Down 1.0%

LIN traded down $4.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $465.98. 1,414,599 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,970,686. Linde plc has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $219.35 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $455.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $449.06.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.75 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.40.

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.