Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Boosts Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 462 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.’s holdings in Linde were worth $220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its position in shares of Linde by 133.3% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $458.12 on Wednesday. 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 $218.14 billion, a PE ratio of 34.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $466.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $454.94. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LIN. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. The trade was a 36.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.