Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Has $448,000 Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 88.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 503 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,105,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,300,092,000 after purchasing an additional 89,408 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,130,986,000 after purchasing an additional 56,775 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $898,188,000 after purchasing an additional 46,843 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,377 shares of company stock worth $6,567,231. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup cut their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company 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 and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $468.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $444.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $455.29. The stock has a market cap of $221.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. On average, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Linde 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.