Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by USA Financial Formulas

USA Financial Formulas grew its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 94.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the quarter. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Linde were worth $345,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,973,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,217,197,000 after purchasing an additional 154,792 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Linde by 0.4% during 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 buying an additional 15,187 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,567,958,000 after buying an additional 2,592,682 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Linde by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,112,160 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,365,647,000 after buying an additional 218,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $1,438,154,000 after buying an additional 50,882 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.75.

Linde Trading Up 1.1 %

Linde stock opened at $432.49 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $437.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $452.91. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $205.93 billion, a PE ratio of 32.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $396.07 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Linde 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.