Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Takes $70.76 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 169,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $70,755,000. Linde comprises 1.0% of Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $2,901,853,000. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,128,233,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Linde by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,834,631,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957,604 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $468,360,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 56,467.9% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,097,982 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $459,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,041 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ LIN opened at $445.97 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $209.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.77, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $451.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $448.04. 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 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49.

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 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 company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.75 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, 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 the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus raised 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 research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $503.11.

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.

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