Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 9,406 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 264,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,406 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Linde were worth $110,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 372.8% during the third 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 buying an additional 2,592,682 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 56,467.9% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,097,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $459,692,000 after buying an additional 1,096,041 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Linde by 2,293.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,593,000 after buying an additional 749,763 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $308,251,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in Linde by 467.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 827,979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,780,000 after buying an additional 682,176 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was 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 transaction, the vice president now 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 over the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $459.75 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.42 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $410.69 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $451.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $454.61.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Linde’s 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.