Norinchukin Bank The Purchases 3,016 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Norinchukin Bank The boosted its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 74,957 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,016 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The’s holdings in Linde were worth $31,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $252,000. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Linde by 6.7% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,023,000. Wealthquest Corp bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $459,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 6.6% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $452.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.81 billion, a PE ratio of 33.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business’s 50-day moving average is $455.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $451.21. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Argus upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $498.00.

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.