T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Sells 2,004,454 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 96.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,958 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,004,454 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $30,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Linde by 85.2% during the fourth quarter. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Channel Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 7,385 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Linde by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $898,188,000 after purchasing an additional 46,843 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $88,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth $625,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of LIN traded up $2.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $453.23. 2,668,138 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,952,110. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $453.85 and a 200-day moving average of $450.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, 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 current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted 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 issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $498.00.

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.