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Auto Owners Insurance Co Grows Holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Linde logo with Basic Materials background

Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 4,679.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 148,150 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 145,050 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up about 1.3% of Auto Owners Insurance Co's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Auto Owners Insurance Co's holdings in Linde were worth $68,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in Linde by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the first quarter worth $41,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN traded up $1.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $472.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,212,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,547,221. The company has a market cap of $222.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.34, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $466.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $456.02. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The company's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.75 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were 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 $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $518.80.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on LIN

Linde Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Linde (NASDAQ:LIN)

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