Impax Asset Management Group plc Raises Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,775 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up 4.5% of Impax Asset Management Group plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,130,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 566.9% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,833,465 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $851,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558,538 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $420,720,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $446,377,000 after acquiring an additional 934,123 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 91.6% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 968,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $449,648,000 after purchasing an additional 463,096 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Linde during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $210,480,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Linde stock traded up $3.76 on Monday, reaching $461.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 278,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,827,406. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $385.12 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $472.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $451.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $220.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share 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%. Linde’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.