Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) is WCM Investment Management LLC's 6th Largest Position

WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,339,761 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,870 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up approximately 3.9% of WCM Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. WCM Investment Management LLC owned 0.71% of Linde worth $1,533,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position 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 buying an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 168,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $70,337,000 after acquiring an additional 13,000 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 7,788 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,261,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Linde by 0.5% during the 4th 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 shares of Linde by 300.3% during the 4th 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. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde 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 sale, the vice president owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $477.17. 1,423,138 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,967,477. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $459.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $450.20. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LIN. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.90.

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.