Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,090 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Linde were worth $7,019,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Linde by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Seven Mile Advisory lifted its holdings in Linde by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 2,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $444.32. 1,968,431 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,226,559. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $350.60 and a twelve month high of $477.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $455.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $420.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Linde’s payout ratio is 44.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho raised shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $456.79.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.