Mackenzie Financial Corp Raises Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,354,782 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,614 shares during the period. Linde comprises approximately 0.8% of Mackenzie Financial Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 0.28% of Linde worth $556,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Linde by 122.6% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in Linde during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock traded down $2.66 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $444.75. 1,711,948 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,297,326. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $451.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $416.84. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $350.60 and a 12 month high of $477.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.10. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. Linde's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. UBS Group downgraded Linde from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut Linde from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $429.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $456.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 in the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Company 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.