Metis Global Partners LLC Purchases 2,987 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,987 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $9,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Winder Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth $1,892,774,000. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $168,636,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 33,201.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 411,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $169,189,000 after acquiring an additional 410,705 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 17.8% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,592,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $973,865,000 after purchasing an additional 391,153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Linde by 53.1% during the third quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,033,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $384,681,000 after purchasing an additional 358,492 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded up $3.98 during trading on Friday, reaching $423.60. 2,657,419 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,803,659. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $350.60 and a 1 year high of $477.71. The company has a market capitalization of $204.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $455.47 and its 200 day moving average is $423.35.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.5 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $460.15.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.