Norges Bank Takes $2.90 Billion Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,931,123 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,901,853,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.46% of Linde as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Linde by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,973,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,217,197,000 after buying an additional 154,792 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Linde by 372.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,567,958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,592,682 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Linde by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,105,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,300,092,000 after purchasing an additional 89,408 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Linde by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $898,188,000 after purchasing an additional 46,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in Linde by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,680,279 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $703,482,000 after purchasing an additional 49,374 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $461.43 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $454.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $454.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.