Bank of Montreal Can Increases Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,254,030 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,922 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Linde were worth $601,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 3,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co grew its position in Linde by 120.8% during the 1st quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 622 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,615 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 44,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,501,000 after buying an additional 1,525 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the first quarter worth about $3,493,000. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Linde during the first quarter valued at approximately $806,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Linde stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $454.92. 231,514 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,831,843. The firm has a market cap of $216.61 billion, a PE ratio of 34.53, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $468.54 and its 200 day moving average is $453.66. 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 quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96.

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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. Barclays upped their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.75.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.