Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by ING Groep NV

Key Points

• ING Groep NV increased its stake in Linde PLC by 15.2%, owning 639,081 shares valued at approximately $297.6 million, making it Linde's 8th largest position.
• Linde recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, with a yield of 1.3% based on an annualized dividend of $6.00.
• Wall Street analysts have given Linde a consensus rating of "Buy" with a target price of $518.80, indicating positive growth expectations for the company.

ING Groep NV lifted its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 15.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 639,081 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 84,233 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for 2.1% of ING Groep NV's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. ING Groep NV owned 0.14% of Linde worth $297,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 29.2% during the first quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 757 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 6.7% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 98,583 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $45,904,000 after purchasing an additional 6,203 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 10,112 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,709,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Linde by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 12,132 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,649,000 after buying an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its position in Linde by 51.7% in the 1st quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 78,956 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,760,000 after buying an additional 26,918 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Down 0.2%

LIN opened at $459.41 on Monday. Linde PLC has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.92. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $467.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $457.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.85 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $518.80.

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.

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