Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2,293.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 782,461 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 749,763 shares during the period. Linde accounts for 0.5% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.16% of Linde worth $327,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Linde by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $898,188,000 after buying an additional 46,843 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Linde by 6.7% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,021 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,975 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 196,036 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $93,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.
Insider Transactions at Linde
In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business's 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 sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This 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 Stock Up 0.2 %
Shares of LIN stock traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $427.98. 2,202,255 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,468,112. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $438.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $453.08. The company has a market capitalization of $203.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.
Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.63 EPS. The firm'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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target 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. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $495.75.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on LIN
Linde Profile
(
Free Report)
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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