Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA Acquires New Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA bought a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,870 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $4,130,000. Linde comprises about 1.8% of Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $88,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Linde by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 168,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $70,337,000 after purchasing an additional 13,000 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its position in Linde by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 7,788 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,261,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Linde by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 138,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $57,986,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in Linde by 300.3% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 26,150 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $10,948,000 after acquiring an additional 19,618 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.11.

Linde Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of LIN traded up $1.99 on Thursday, reaching $470.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,571,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,969,324. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $221.49 billion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $453.31 and a 200-day moving average of $448.95.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.75 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.57%.

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.