Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Invests $306.59 Million in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 732,282 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $306,585,000. Linde comprises approximately 14.9% of Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations’ holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations owned approximately 0.15% of Linde at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $461.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $218.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $410.69 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $454.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $454.24.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS 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%. Research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

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.