Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by Asset Management One Co. Ltd.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 208,854 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,262 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Linde were worth $97,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Linde by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,834,631,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957,604 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Linde by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,598,551,000 after purchasing an additional 30,750 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Linde by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,857,741,000 after purchasing an additional 554,480 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,901,853,000. Finally, Freemont Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,128,233,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 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. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $459.75 on Tuesday. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.41 billion, a PE ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $457.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $449.18.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.57%.

About Linde

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.