Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Union Savings Bank

Union Savings Bank decreased its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 131 shares during the period. Union Savings Bank’s holdings in Linde were worth $616,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 154,792 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Linde by 0.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,449,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,513,551,000 after buying an additional 15,187 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 372.8% during 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 buying an additional 2,592,682 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Linde by 1.7% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 50,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,130,986,000 after acquiring an additional 56,775 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on LIN. Mizuho boosted their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 research note on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.75.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.8 %

LIN opened at $436.00 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $436.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $452.97. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $396.07 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $207.61 billion, a PE ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.94. 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

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.