Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by Aigen Investment Management LP

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management LP increased its stake in Linde PLC by 53.1% during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to a value of $3.20 million.
• Insider transactions showed notable activity, with VP David P. Strauss selling 1,987 shares and Director Stephen F. Angel selling 50,309 shares, resulting in significant decreases in their ownership percentages.
• Analysts have raised Linde's price targets, with UBS Group setting a new target of $504.00 and Citigroup upgrading its rating to buy, indicating strong market confidence.

Aigen Investment Management LP increased its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 53.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,861 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 2,381 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP's holdings in Linde were worth $3,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $2,128,233,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Linde by 58,312.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,415,935 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,590,596,000 after purchasing an additional 3,410,087 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Linde by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,834,631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,604 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Linde by 172.4% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,407,637 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,121,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $468,360,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,557 shares of company stock worth $28,037,479. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded up $2.85 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $473.23. 1,347,678 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,482,364. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.66, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $467.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $459.22.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.35 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.85 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde's payout ratio is 42.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $519.63.

Linde 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.