Vident Advisory LLC Has $5.28 Million Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,616 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,334 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $5,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $598,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 68,286 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $28,589,000 after acquiring an additional 9,526 shares during the period. City Holding Co. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 10,227 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,282,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Terra Nova Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $639,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.11.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock opened at $460.33 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $216.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The company's 50 day moving average price is $451.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $447.56. 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 the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.75 EPS. Linde's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48% 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 insiders.

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.

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