Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,449,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,513,551,000 after buying an additional 15,187 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Linde by 7.6% during the second 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. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,130,986,000 after acquiring an additional 56,775 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,993,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $874,908,000 after purchasing an additional 160,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Linde by 1.2% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,953,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $906,730,000 after purchasing an additional 23,155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $448.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $213.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.06, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $469.79 and its 200 day moving average is $453.00. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This trade represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 upped their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.75.

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.