JCIC Asset Management Inc. Boosts Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 128 shares during the quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 2,592,682 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 934,123 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 108.7% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,086,000 after acquiring an additional 408,659 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV grew its stake in Linde by 78.2% during the 3rd 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.75.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock traded up $7.41 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $421.56. 1,161,610 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,272,082. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $200.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.01, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $439.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $453.30.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.