8,870 Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Acquired by Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA

Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA bought a new stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,130,000. Linde comprises 1.8% of Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Linde by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,834,631,000 after buying an additional 2,957,604 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,598,551,000 after acquiring an additional 30,750 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,857,741,000 after acquiring an additional 554,480 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,901,853,000. Finally, Freemont Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,128,233,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN stock opened at $468.54 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $453.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $448.95. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $220.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.75 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.11.

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.