Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 587 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 201,830 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 587 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Linde were worth $93,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Linde by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,616 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,351,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,164 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,255,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the 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 now owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock traded up $3.39 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $475.56. 1,857,989 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,963,860. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $223.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $452.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $448.63.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.75 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.11.

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.