Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Purchases 412 Shares of Linde plc (NYSE:LIN)

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. boosted its position in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,066,483 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,644,351,000 after acquiring an additional 303,502 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,233,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,006,523,000 after acquiring an additional 112,484 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Linde by 6.0% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,587,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,315,068,000 after purchasing an additional 488,655 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,409,138,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,773,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,209,414,000 after purchasing an additional 526,197 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Linde from $400.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $420.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on Linde from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, June 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $430.00 price target on the stock. Finally, HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $416.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $404.41.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 39,695 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.62, for a total transaction of $15,545,355.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 369,611 shares in the company, valued at $144,747,059.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 39,695 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.62, for a total transaction of $15,545,355.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 369,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $144,747,059.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 1,966 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.46, for a total value of $734,222.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,043,325.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN traded up $1.87 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $388.91. 969,900 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,870,297. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.78. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $262.47 and a 1 year high of $393.67. The stock has a market cap of $189.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $379.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $364.69.

Linde (NYSE:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.10. Linde had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 17.20%. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 14.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $1.275 per share. This represents a $5.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 1st. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.50%.

About Linde

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia 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.