AKO Capital LLP Sells 225,547 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

AKO Capital LLP lessened its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 63.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 128,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 225,547 shares during the period. Linde makes up about 0.7% of AKO Capital LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. AKO Capital LLP’s holdings in Linde were worth $53,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $252,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $507,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 2,191.7% in the 3rd quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Linde by 1.0% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 17,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,556,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $464.73 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $455.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $454.31. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $219.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. 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.