Exane Asset Management Makes New $295,000 Investment in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Exane Asset Management acquired a new position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 587 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $295,000. Linde comprises approximately 0.2% of Exane Asset Management's holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Linde in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares in the company, 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. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on LIN. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada started 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. Citigroup upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.90.

Linde Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of LIN traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $469.95. 1,627,213 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,969,187. The business's 50-day moving average price is $461.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $451.76. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.13, a PEG 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 (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 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 firm had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.57%.

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.