Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV Purchases 5,835 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 177,668 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,835 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV's holdings in Linde were worth $75,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth $2,901,853,000. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd bought a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth $2,128,233,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Linde by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,834,631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,604 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $468,360,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 56,467.9% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,097,982 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $459,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,041 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58% 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

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.11.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $3.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $457.77. 1,845,722 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,941,775. The company has a market cap of $215.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.63, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $451.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $447.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.75 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is 43.57%.

Linde 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.