State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Trims Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury trimmed its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 315,942 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 6,390 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury owned approximately 0.07% of Linde worth $132,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. increased its stake in Linde by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 48,256 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $20,203,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 126.0% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 39,839 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $16,679,000 after purchasing an additional 22,214 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $169,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 67,872 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $28,416,000 after buying an additional 7,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirova lifted its stake in Linde by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirova now owns 12,710 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,321,000 after acquiring an additional 3,091 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded down $1.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $448.40. 1,865,299 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,949,184. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $212.05 billion, a PE ratio of 32.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $454.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $450.51.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. TD Cowen raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $498.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the 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 directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

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.