Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,291,142 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 35,593 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.27% of Linde worth $601,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in Linde by 1,160.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock traded down $1.34 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $475.83. 952,724 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,968,152. The stock has a market cap of $223.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.94. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The firm's 50 day moving average is $460.47 and its 200 day moving average is $450.38.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. The company 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%. Linde's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.75 EPS. Analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $515.90.

Linde Company 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.