Zeno Equity Partners LLP Buys 2,734 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Zeno Equity Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 74,378 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,734 shares during the period. Linde accounts for about 9.3% of Zeno Equity Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Zeno Equity Partners LLP’s holdings in Linde were worth $31,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 372.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,567,958,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 56,467.9% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,097,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $459,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,041 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Linde by 2,293.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $327,593,000 after purchasing an additional 749,763 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $308,251,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 467.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 827,979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,780,000 after purchasing an additional 682,176 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $460.71 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $217.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.85, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $450.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $454.57.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

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.