Allianz SE Buys New Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Allianz SE bought a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 65,968 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,583,000. Linde makes up approximately 0.7% of Allianz SE’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $459.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $217.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s fifty day moving average is $456.09 and its 200-day moving average is $454.28.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of Linde 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 sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, 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 a total of 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.