Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Holdings Lessened by Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 50.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,683 shares during the quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $252,000. Nwam LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $495,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 6.6% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,493,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 212.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,489,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.2 %

LIN stock opened at $459.09 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $217.11 billion, a PE ratio of 33.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $453.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $454.18.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. 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. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.09%.

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.