W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. Acquires 1,372 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 180.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares during the period. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. FMR LLC lifted its position in Linde by 2.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,919,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,182,870,000 after purchasing an additional 354,506 shares during the period. Winder Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,892,774,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Linde by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,081,177 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,891,976,000 after acquiring an additional 123,174 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Linde by 2.6% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,960,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,102,475,000 after acquiring an additional 75,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Linde by 0.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,766,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,030,146,000 after purchasing an additional 9,541 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at $3,177,248.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $3.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $423.60. The stock had a trading volume of 2,657,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,803,659. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $455.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $423.35. The company has a market capitalization of $204.00 billion, a PE ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $350.60 and a 12 month high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $460.15.

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.