Linde PLC $LIN Stock Sold by Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A.

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. lowered its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 318,633 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 14,401 shares during the period. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. owned about 0.07% of Linde worth $151,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LIN. Sanders Morris Harris LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $847,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $7,498,000. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $1,875,000. First Financial Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $4,034,000. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $2,187,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Trading Down 0.8%

Linde stock opened at $522.49 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $489.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $495.84. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $548.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.07. Linde had a net margin of 19.34% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $9.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.21 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.89 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be given a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 86,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.21, for a total transaction of $45,258,227.93. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 50,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,442,546.93. The trade was a 63.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.91, for a total value of $4,851,808.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,487,629.58. This represents a 29.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Linde from $574.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Berenberg Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Linde from $577.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Argus cut their price objective on Linde from $563.00 to $538.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $560.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $553.05.

Linde Profile

Linde plc is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and supplies atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium and specialty gases. The company also designs and builds equipment and facilities used to produce and process gases. Linde serves customers across industries including healthcare, manufacturing, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics and energy. Its operations span the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific.