Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Reduces Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. reduced its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 404 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 58 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.’s holdings in Linde were worth $169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 1,160.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $498.00.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock opened at $448.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $211.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.92, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $453.54 and a 200-day moving average of $449.88. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.75 earnings per share. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

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.