Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by Axa S.A.

AXA S.A. increased its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 36.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 455,732 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 120,684 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up 0.6% of AXA S.A.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. AXA S.A. owned approximately 0.10% of Linde worth $190,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde by 1,160.0% in 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. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN traded down $5.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $447.05. 1,439,178 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,934,081. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.42 billion, a PE ratio of 32.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $453.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $448.97. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.75 earnings per share. Linde's revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $498.00.

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.