PGGM Investments Sells 1,036 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

PGGM Investments decreased its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 151,346 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,036 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Linde were worth $63,364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Linde by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,377 shares of company stock worth $6,567,231 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on LIN shares. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $451.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $447.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $455.13. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $213.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.09%.

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.