Night Owl Capital Management LLC Buys 1,685 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Night Owl Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,721 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares during the period. Linde accounts for about 2.6% of Night Owl Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Night Owl Capital Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $19,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Linde by 85.2% in the 4th quarter. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Channel Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 7,385 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Linde by 0.6% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $625,000. Finally, Community Trust & Investment Co. raised its position in shares of Linde by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 56,287 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $23,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,421 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.8%

LIN traded up $3.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $457.77. 1,845,722 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,941,775. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $451.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $447.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.63, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.75 EPS. The company's revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Linde's dividend 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.