Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 293,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,714 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Linde were worth $136,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Linde by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,834,631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,604 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Linde by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,598,551,000 after purchasing an additional 30,750 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Linde by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,857,741,000 after purchasing an additional 554,480 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth $2,901,853,000. Finally, Freemont Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth $2,128,233,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on LIN. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.11.

Linde Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $468.54 on Thursday. Linde plc has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $453.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $448.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.55 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.75 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.