Ayrshire Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Ayrshire Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,414 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises approximately 2.7% of Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $1,567,958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,592,682 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $446,377,000 after purchasing an additional 934,123 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in shares of Linde by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,086,000 after buying an additional 408,659 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Linde by 131.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $296,342,000 after buying an additional 353,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in Linde by 78.2% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 598,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,523,000 after acquiring an additional 262,691 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday. Citigroup lowered their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade 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 currently owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $421.43 on Tuesday. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $396.07 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $439.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $453.16. The stock has a market cap of $200.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.