Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 266,862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,769 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned 0.06% of Linde worth $111,727,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock opened at $459.09 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $453.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $454.18. The company has a market capitalization of $217.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. On average, analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 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.