ProShare Advisors LLC Has $425.97 Million Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,017,433 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 99,849 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for 1.0% of ProShare Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.21% of Linde worth $425,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,916 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,896,000 after acquiring an additional 874 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,206 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 834 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 2,669 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,117,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $436,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Trading Up 0.8%

LIN stock traded up $3.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $457.77. The company had a trading volume of 1,845,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,944,952. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $451.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $447.60. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Linde's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.75 EPS. As a group, 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on LIN. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $503.11.

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.