Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Holdings Raised by Flossbach Von Storch SE

Flossbach Von Storch SE increased its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 375,582 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,641 shares during the quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE owned 0.08% of Linde worth $174,886,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Capital World Investors grew its position 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 valued at $4,834,631,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957,604 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,598,551,000 after purchasing an additional 30,750 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Linde by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,857,741,000 after purchasing an additional 554,480 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,901,853,000. Finally, Freemont Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,128,233,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN traded down $1.97 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $469.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,025,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,969,292. The business's 50-day moving average is $462.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $452.02. The company has a market capitalization of $220.91 billion, a PE ratio of 34.11, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.94. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. Linde's revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

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 sale, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LIN. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two equities research 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 presently has a consensus 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.