Natixis Advisors LLC Has $243.48 Million Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 581,566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 12,696 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.12% of Linde worth $243,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $455.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $215.41 billion, a PE ratio of 33.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $448.66 and a 200 day moving average of $455.03. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $3,117,142.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,377 shares of company stock valued at $6,567,231. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

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.