M&T Bank Corp Buys 5,021 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 6.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 79,472 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Linde were worth $37,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,973,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,217,197,000 after acquiring an additional 154,792 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,449,218 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,513,551,000 after purchasing an additional 15,187 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 372.8% during the third 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 valued at $1,567,958,000 after buying an additional 2,592,682 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Linde by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,112,160 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,365,647,000 after purchasing an additional 218,746 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 1.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,015,882 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,438,154,000 after buying an additional 50,882 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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. Mizuho lifted 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. Citigroup reduced 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $490.75.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $4.72 on Friday, hitting $424.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,609,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,904,754. 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 $202.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $396.07 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $457.11 and a 200-day moving average of $455.19.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.63 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 directly owns 25,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Company 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.