UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Purchases 2,592,682 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 372.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,567,958,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Linde by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,215,000 after acquiring an additional 2,312 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 3.1% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 51,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 196,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $93,457,000 after buying an additional 1,811 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc raised its stake in shares of Linde by 1.2% in the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 185,903 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $81,611,000 after buying an additional 2,252 shares during the period. Finally, M&G PLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 190,615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $90,923,000 after buying an additional 4,712 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho boosted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.75.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $457.12 on Thursday. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $467.66 and a 200 day moving average of $454.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate 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.