Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 535,295 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 13,193 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises about 0.6% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.11% of Linde worth $255,261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the second quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LIN. Mizuho boosted their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned 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 $490.75.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction 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 approximately $8,136,996. This trade represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $459.45 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $466.07 and a 200 day moving average of $454.97. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $218.77 billion, a PE ratio of 34.89, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.93. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.63 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

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.