USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 4,948 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

USS Investment Management Ltd reduced its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 108,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,948 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Linde were worth $45,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in Linde by 1,160.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in Linde by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in Linde by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $460.33 on Tuesday. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $451.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $447.56. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $216.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.11.

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.