TD Asset Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

TD Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 784,622 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 34,314 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $328,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. raised its stake in Linde by 85.2% in the fourth quarter. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Channel Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 7,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Linde by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $898,188,000 after purchasing an additional 46,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth $625,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $459.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. 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 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $453.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $454.18.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. As a group, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Linde Company 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.