Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Position Reduced by Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS

Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS trimmed its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,418 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 205 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS’s holdings in Linde were worth $594,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 372.8% in 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 valued at $1,567,958,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 47,830.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $446,377,000 after purchasing an additional 934,123 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in Linde by 108.7% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Linde by 131.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $296,342,000 after buying an additional 353,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its position in Linde by 78.2% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 598,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,523,000 after buying an additional 262,691 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on LIN. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho raised 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.75.

Linde Stock Up 1.1 %

LIN traded up $4.56 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $418.06. 321,933 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,434,443. 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 company has a market cap of $199.06 billion, a PE ratio of 31.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a one year low of $396.07 and a one year high of $487.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $445.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.18.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, 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. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.