Sava Infond d.o.o. Invests $2.39 Million in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Sava Infond d.o.o. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,715 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,393,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Linde by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 798,658 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $330,245,000 after purchasing an additional 52,768 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in Linde by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 347,057 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $145,302,000 after acquiring an additional 73,423 shares during the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Linde by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 1,059 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Linde by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 2,948 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 11,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,663,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Up 0.9 %

LIN stock opened at $461.43 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $454.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $454.24. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $410.69 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.22 billion, a PE ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.09%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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 owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Linde Company 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.