State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 544 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 278,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 544 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Linde were worth $114,580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,919,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,182,870,000 after purchasing an additional 354,506 shares in the last quarter. Winder Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $1,892,774,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Linde by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,081,177 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,891,976,000 after acquiring an additional 123,174 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Linde by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,960,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,102,475,000 after buying an additional 75,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,766,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,030,146,000 after buying an additional 9,541 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ LIN traded down $0.65 on Friday, reaching $443.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,583,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,209,385. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $350.60 and a 12-month high of $477.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $455.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $420.27.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.10. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho upgraded Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $456.79.

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.