Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Linde PLC by 4.0%, owning 19,557 shares valued at approximately $9.11 million as of the end of the most recent quarter.
• Insider trading activity includes Director Stephen F. Angel selling 50,309 shares for over $23 million, indicating a 9.48% decrease in their position.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Buy" for Linde, with target prices increasing, including a notable price objective increase to $535 from Citigroup.

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,557 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Linde were worth $9,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN stock traded up $2.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $480.08. 1,951,307 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,506,062. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $468.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $459.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.92.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.85 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were 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 directly owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total transaction of $23,815,274.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 480,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This trade represents a 9.48% 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

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