Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 11,447 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lessened its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 113,451 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 11,447 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $47,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $252,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in Linde by 2.4% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,130,986,000 after purchasing an additional 56,775 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $807,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock opened at $468.77 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $444.80 and a 200-day moving average of $455.24. The company has a market capitalization of $221.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share 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. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,377 shares of company stock valued at $6,567,231. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.