UMB Bank n.a. Sells 1,487 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

UMB Bank n.a. cut its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 81,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,487 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Linde were worth $34,254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Linde by 1.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 154,792 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Linde by 0.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,449,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,513,551,000 after purchasing an additional 15,187 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 372.8% in the 3rd 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 valued at $1,567,958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,592,682 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,015,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,438,154,000 after purchasing an additional 50,882 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in Linde by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,130,986,000 after buying an additional 56,775 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $436.00 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $436.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $452.97. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $396.07 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.94. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reduced 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde 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.