Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 319,776 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD trimmed its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,147,189 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 319,776 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 1.92% of Linde worth $3,829,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded down $2.07 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $446.33. 475,359 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,944,869. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company's 50 day moving average is $454.36 and its 200 day moving average is $450.24.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded 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 note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $498.00.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 over the last three months. 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.