Manhattan West Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• Manhattan West Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Linde PLC by 11% during the first quarter, holding 8,020 shares valued at approximately $3.74 million.
• The company reported earnings per share of $4.09 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, with revenue reaching $8.50 billion.
• Linde announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.3%, and the payment date set for September 18th.

Manhattan West Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 11.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,020 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $3,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,365 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,567,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Linde by 0.9% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 41,332 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $19,246,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank purchased a new stake in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at $226,000. Donoghue Forlines LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter worth $2,324,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter valued at about $291,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $519.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total value of $23,815,274.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 480,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $227,479,445.34. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,557 shares of company stock valued at $28,037,479 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of LIN traded up $2.85 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $473.23. 1,347,678 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,090,190. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $467.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $459.22. The firm has a market cap of $221.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.92.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.35 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%. Linde's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.85 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.67%.

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.