924,253 Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Bought by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 924,253 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $386,957,000. Linde comprises about 0.8% of Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.19% of Linde as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% during the fourth 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. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on LIN. Argus raised 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.11.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,725 shares of company stock valued at $5,385,750. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ LIN traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $464.40. 4,344,668 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,260,449. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $218.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.12, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $451.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $447.79. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.75 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Linde's payout ratio is currently 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.