Two Sigma Advisers LP Buys 4,889 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 74.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,489 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,889 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP's holdings in Linde were worth $4,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $503.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 now directly owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded down $5.44 on Wednesday, hitting $462.51. 2,241,948 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,957,056. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $451.46 and a 200 day moving average of $447.64. The stock has a market cap of $217.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.75 EPS. Linde's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is 43.57%.

About Linde

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.