US Asset Management LLC Buys New Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

US Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,368,000. Linde comprises approximately 1.4% of US Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Provence Wealth Management Group raised its position in shares of Linde by 655.7% in the 4th quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,480,000. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,045,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total value of $3,837,704.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 56,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,058,131.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 77,948 shares of company stock valued at $35,687,605 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.8 %

LIN traded up $3.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $433.28. 488,221 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,184,393. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $453.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.26. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $350.60 and a 1-year high of $477.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $208.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.62, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.42 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price target on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. HSBC lowered their target price on Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven 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 price target of $464.69.

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.