Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. Buys 2,633 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 169.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,633 shares during the quarter. Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wrapmanager Inc. increased its position in Linde by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $709,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA increased its holdings in Linde by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,999,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourpath Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Linde by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,732,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $452.56 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $452.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $448.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.25, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.75 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company 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.