Prudential PLC Purchases 928 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• Prudential PLC increased its stake in Linde PLC by 7.1% during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 13,985 shares valued at approximately $6.51 million.
• Linde PLC reported earnings of $4.09 per share for the recent quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50, reflecting a 1.3% yield.
• Several research analysts have recently adjusted their price targets for Linde, with recommendations ranging from "hold" to "buy," and an average price target set at $519.63.

Prudential PLC boosted its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,985 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC's holdings in Linde were worth $6,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,128,233,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,097,793,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 58,312.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,415,935 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,590,596,000 after acquiring an additional 3,410,087 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 34.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 172.4% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,407,637 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,121,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,702 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.5%

Linde stock traded up $2.45 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $480.08. The company had a trading volume of 1,951,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,506,062. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $468.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $460.00. The firm has a market cap of $225.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.92. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.85 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total value of $23,815,274.42. Following the sale, the director directly owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% 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 company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $519.63.

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.