Linde PLC $LIN Position Lowered by Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A.

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. cut its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm 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.’s holdings in Linde were worth $151,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 96.6% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 57 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 74.2% during the 2nd quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 54 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Polaris Financial Partners purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN stock opened at $522.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company 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 PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $548.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $489.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $495.84.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Linde from $549.00 to $568.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Evercore increased their price objective on Linde from $515.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank reduced their price objective on Linde from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Linde from $542.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Berenberg Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $553.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, CFO Matthew White sold 86,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were 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 $26,442,546.93. This represents a 63.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.91, for a total transaction of $4,851,808.50. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $11,487,629.58. The trade was a 29.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.