Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd Sells 5,683 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd trimmed its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,683 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,683 shares during the period. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd's holdings in Linde were worth $2,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,973,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,217,197,000 after purchasing an additional 154,792 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 372.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,567,958,000 after buying an additional 2,592,682 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Linde by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,105,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,300,092,000 after buying an additional 89,408 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in 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 worth $898,188,000 after acquiring an additional 46,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in Linde by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,680,279 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $703,482,000 after acquiring an additional 49,374 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm'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 value of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of LIN stock traded down $5.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $459.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,334,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,876,018. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $456.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $454.22. The company has a market cap of $217.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. This is an increase from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Linde's payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $501.82.

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.