Linde PLC $LIN Stock Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp lessened its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 266,307 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,531 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp owned about 0.06% of Linde worth $126,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Linde by 3.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,344,181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,558,016,000 after purchasing an additional 719,052 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Linde by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,162,409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,567,796,000 after purchasing an additional 373,012 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Linde by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,740,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,358,712,000 after buying an additional 64,078 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 28.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,624,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $805,475,000 after buying an additional 361,664 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 6.6% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,370,361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $679,370,000 after acquiring an additional 85,360 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, CFO Matthew White sold 86,833 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.21, for a total value of $45,258,227.93. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 50,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,442,546.93. The trade was a 63.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 $11,487,629.58. The trade was a 29.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $526.55 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $241.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $488.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $495.50. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $548.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.07. Linde had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 19.34%. The business had revenue of $9.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. 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 is presently 42.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho set a $583.00 price target on Linde in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Linde from $560.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Linde from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.05.

Linde Company 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.