Northern Trust Corp Buys 500,489 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,925,322 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 500,489 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.03% of Linde worth $2,062,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Linde by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,051,666 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $440,301,000 after purchasing an additional 23,054 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $177,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. NZS Capital LLC increased its position in Linde by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. NZS Capital LLC now owns 178,049 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $74,544,000 after acquiring an additional 6,521 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in Linde by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,073 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $2.65 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $453.23. The company had a trading volume of 2,668,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,951,233. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $453.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $450.09. The firm has a market cap of $214.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. 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 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised 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 report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $498.00.

Insider Activity at Linde

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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

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.