Empire Life Investments Inc. Takes Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Empire Life Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 6,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,722,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Linde by 372.8% in 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in 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 valued at $446,377,000 after buying an additional 934,123 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Linde by 2,293.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,593,000 after buying an additional 749,763 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in shares of Linde by 108.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 353,136 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of LIN stock opened at $457.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $434.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $453.94. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $410.69 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $217.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,503 shares of company stock valued at $4,306,843. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on LIN. Citigroup decreased their target price 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 boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

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.