Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $18.24 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co cut its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,112 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Linde were worth $18,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $461.43 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $454.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $454.24. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $410.69 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $218.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a P/E/G 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 results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of 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 upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

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.