Burney Co. bought a new position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 691 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $289,000.
Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 372.8% in 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 47,830.2% during the 3rd 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Linde by 2,293.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $327,593,000 after purchasing an additional 749,763 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised 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 valued at $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Linde by 131.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $296,342,000 after purchasing an additional 353,136 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.
Several research firms have recently weighed in on LIN. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho increased their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank restated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $495.75.
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In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.
Linde stock opened at $436.00 on Friday. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $396.07 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $207.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $436.85 and a 200-day moving average of $452.82.
Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde's payout ratio is 42.22%.
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.
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