Waverton Investment Management Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 196,036 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,811 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for about 1.5% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Waverton Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Linde were worth $93,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 566.9% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,833,465 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $851,314,000 after buying an additional 1,558,538 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at $420,720,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $446,377,000 after buying an additional 934,123 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Linde during the 1st quarter valued at $210,480,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in Linde by 108.7% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $374,086,000 after buying an additional 408,659 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $455.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,748,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,836,037. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.66, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $471.16 and a 200-day moving average of $452.49. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $395.00 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. Linde's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.63 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde's dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,136,996. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LIN shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a 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 company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $490.75.

About Linde

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.