Ascent Group LLC Buys 3,392 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 53.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,392 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Linde by 4.4% in 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 shares of Linde by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 51,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,616,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 196,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $93,457,000 after buying an additional 1,811 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc raised its stake in Linde by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 185,903 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $81,611,000 after buying an additional 2,252 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Linde by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,580,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This trade represents a 36.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $460.99 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $467.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $454.55. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49. 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 $219.50 billion, a PE ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.75.

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.