InvesTrust Purchases Shares of 4,965 Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

InvesTrust acquired a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,965 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,074,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LIN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 372.8% during 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 worth $1,567,958,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 47,830.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $446,377,000 after purchasing an additional 934,123 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in shares of Linde by 108.7% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 131.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $296,342,000 after purchasing an additional 353,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 78.2% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 598,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $285,523,000 after purchasing an additional 262,691 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Linde stock traded up $3.51 on Wednesday, hitting $418.46. The company had a trading volume of 824,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,142,542. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $442.61 and a 200-day moving average of $453.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $396.07 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on LIN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.75.

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.