Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,964 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $5,217,197,000 after acquiring an additional 154,792 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $1,567,958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,592,682 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Linde by 1.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 50,882 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.4% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 56,775 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $898,188,000 after purchasing an additional 46,843 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $467.05 on Friday. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $222.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $440.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $454.96.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,285 shares of company stock worth $7,423,986 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on LIN. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

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.