Fifth Third Bancorp Has $121.85 Million Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 291,039 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,313 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Linde were worth $121,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Linde by 372.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,567,958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,592,682 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Linde by 47,830.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $446,377,000 after buying an additional 934,123 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Linde by 2,293.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $327,593,000 after buying an additional 749,763 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in Linde by 108.7% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,086,000 after acquiring an additional 408,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in Linde by 131.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $296,342,000 after acquiring an additional 353,136 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $439.25 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $435.65 and its 200 day moving average is $453.02. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.15 billion, a PE ratio of 33.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LIN. Mizuho increased their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % 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. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Company Profile

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.