Voya Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 20.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 555,841 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 144,842 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Linde worth $232,711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.
Linde Trading Up 0.7 %
NASDAQ LIN traded up $2.99 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $450.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 459,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,943,545. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $454.08 and a 200 day moving average of $450.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.13, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.
Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Linde Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.09%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $498.00.
View Our Latest Report on LIN
About Linde
(
Free Report)
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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