Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by Nationale Nederlanden Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A.

Nationale Nederlanden Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. raised its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 44.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,822 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 24,709 shares during the period. Linde makes up approximately 7.5% of Nationale Nederlanden Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Nationale Nederlanden Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A.'s holdings in Linde were worth $37,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt acquired a new stake in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $233,405,000. Guidance Capital Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 2,236 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,017,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC boosted its position in Linde by 32.1% in the 1st quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $875,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. PFG Advisors boosted its position in Linde by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 4,597 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,141,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares during the period. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its position in Linde by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 66,056 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,758,000 after buying an additional 2,390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $471.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 531,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,971,083. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $464.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $454.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.22, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.75 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $518.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business'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 transaction, the vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business'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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LIN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.