Linde PLC $LIN is WCM Investment Management LLC’s 8th Largest Position

WCM Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,383,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 18,399 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises approximately 3.4% of WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. WCM Investment Management LLC owned 0.72% of Linde worth $1,612,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Markel Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 186,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $87,549,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 12.3% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 205,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $97,526,000 after acquiring an additional 22,489 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Linde by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 967,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $459,570,000 after purchasing an additional 24,624 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its position in shares of Linde by 27.2% during the 2nd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 417,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $195,649,000 after acquiring an additional 89,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 44,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,366,000 after purchasing an additional 5,526 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LIN. Mizuho set a $495.00 price target on Linde in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $516.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.75.

Linde Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $460.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $486.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $426.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $447.73.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.62 billion. Linde had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Profile

Linde (NASDAQ: LIN) is a multinational industrial gases and engineering company that supplies gases, related technologies and services to a wide range of industries. The company traces its current form to the 2018 combination of Germany’s Linde AG and U.S.-based Praxair, creating one of the largest global providers of industrial, specialty and medical gases. Linde’s business model centers on production, processing and distribution of gases as well as the design and construction of the plants and equipment needed to produce them.

Core products and services include atmospheric and process gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon; hydrogen and helium; carbon dioxide; and a portfolio of higher‑value specialty and electronic gases.