Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Purchases 2,312 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,975 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,312 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Linde were worth $26,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew 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 valued at $851,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,558,538 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Linde in the second quarter valued at approximately $420,720,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 91.6% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 968,402 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $449,648,000 after acquiring an additional 463,096 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at approximately $210,480,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 408,659 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded up $0.39 on Friday, reaching $486.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,255,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,832,751. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $361.02 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $232.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.02, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $469.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $450.66.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.57 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on LIN. Citigroup increased their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $484.18.

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.