HB Wealth Management LLC Purchases 2,755 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 28.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,755 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $1,567,958,000 after buying an additional 2,592,682 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 934,123 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Linde by 2,293.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $327,593,000 after acquiring an additional 749,763 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in Linde by 108.7% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Linde by 131.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $296,342,000 after purchasing an additional 353,136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. The trade was 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on LIN. Mizuho raised 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 for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.75.

Linde Stock Up 0.8 %

Linde stock opened at $436.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $207.61 billion, a PE ratio of 33.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $436.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $452.82.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.63 EPS. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.