Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Makes New Investment in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN – Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 115,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,260,000. Linde comprises 0.4% of Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wrapmanager Inc. boosted its stake in Linde by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,999,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourpath Capital Management LLC raised its position in Linde by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $437.96 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $458.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $454.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on LIN. Citigroup reduced their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Read Our Latest Report on Linde

Linde Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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