Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Buys Shares of 42,697 Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 42,697 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,876,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,973,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,217,197,000 after acquiring an additional 154,792 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 372.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Linde by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,105,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,300,092,000 after acquiring an additional 89,408 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Linde by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $898,188,000 after acquiring an additional 46,843 shares during the period. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Linde by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,680,279 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $703,482,000 after acquiring an additional 49,374 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $460.31 on Tuesday. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $217.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $449.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $454.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

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.