Stephen Angel (Insider Trades), CEO, president and chairman of Praxair Inc. (PX), bought 5,000 shares of the company on Sept. 23. The average price per share was $101.54 for a total transaction cost of $507,700. Praxair produces, sells and distributes atmospheric, process and specialty gases, as well as high-performance surface coatings. The company has a market cap of $29.09 billion and a P/S ratio of 2.49.
Insider buy number and volume increased from 2012 to 2015, while insider trade number and volume decreased. There were 14 insider sells of Praxair during 2012, amounting to 669,999 shares, while there were only six insider sells totaling 221,840 in 2015. There were no insider buys of Praxair from 2012 to 2014, but there were two insider buys totaling 10,000 shares in 2015. Angel made both insider buys in 2015. He made three insider buys of 12,000 shares since August 2007. His earliest buy increased about 40% since the purchase. Angel also made 11 insider sells of the company totaling 1,178,703 shares of the company since August 2004. Angel’s earliest sale of 50,000 shares at an average price of $39.80 per share increased about 150% since then. 
For more information about insider transactions with Praxair Inc., click here.
The company reported a net income of $308 million, or $1.07 per share for the second quarter of 2015, down from $467 million or $1.59 per share in the year-ago quarter. Annual net income increased 7.75% since 2010. Annual revenue also went up 4.55% since 2010. 
Praxair declared a third quarter dividend of 71 cents per share payable Sept. 15 to shareholders of record on Sept. 8. The company also announced that the board of directors authorized a share repurchase program for up to $1.5 billion of Praxair’s common stock. The company has approximately $500 million of repurchase authority available under its previously announced buyback authorization from January 2014. Dividends per share of the company increased 9.61% since 2010.
On Sept. 8, Praxair announced a long-term agreement for the purchase of helium from Nacogdoches Oil & Gas (NOG). NOG operates a helium-bearing gas field in Arizona and will supply up to 100 million scf per year of helium under the agreement. Praxair signed an agreement on Sept. 15, to acquire Yara International ASA’s (Yara) European CO2 business. The proposed transaction also includes Praxair’s acquisition of Yara’s remaining 34% stake in the Yara Praxair Holding AS industrial gas joint venture in Scandinavia. The investment for both transactions is expected to be 312 million euros. On Sept. 24, Praxair announced the acquisition of Tecnogas, a local producer and distributor of carbon dioxide and industrial gases in Peru. Tecnogas’s annual revenue amounts to approximately $10 million, and the business serves almost 400 customers across a wider variety of end markets.
According to GuruFocus.com information, Praxair Inc. has a business predictability rank of 5 stars. For more information about business predictability rank, click here.
Two gurus reduced their stakes in the company during the second quarter of 2015. Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio)Ă‚ sold out 7,536 shares at the average price of $121.80 after acquiring the holding in the previous quarter. Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) (Trades, Portfolio) also sold out his shares for the average price of $121.8 per share. For more information about guru trades with Praxair, click here.
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- CEO Buys, CFO Buys: Stocks that are bought by their CEO/CFOs.
- Insider Cluster Buys: Stocks that multiple company officers and directors have bought.
- Double Buys: Companies that both Gurus and Insiders are buying
- Triple Buys: Companies that both Gurus and Insiders are buying, and Company is buying back.
