Morse Asset Management Inc Grows Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,214 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Linde makes up 1.5% of Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Linde were worth $6,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 566.9% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,833,465 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $851,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,558,538 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Linde during the second quarter worth about $420,720,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Linde by 91.6% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 968,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $449,648,000 after purchasing an additional 463,096 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at about $210,480,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,676,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,744,033,000 after buying an additional 405,952 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.18.

Linde Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $471.91 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.84 billion, a PE ratio of 36.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $361.02 and a 1 year high of $479.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $458.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $449.20.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.57 EPS. Analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

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.