China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 4,214 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 41.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,327 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 4,214 shares during the quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Linde were worth $6,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Knuff & Co LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Austin Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Rockingstone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 0.3% during the first quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded down $5.99 on Monday, reaching $469.59. The company had a trading volume of 2,099,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,970,552. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.05 billion, a PE ratio of 34.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Linde PLC has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The business's 50-day moving average is $461.54 and its 200 day moving average is $451.45.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.75 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup upgraded 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 report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.90.

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.