14,351 Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by M&G PLC

M&G PLC lessened its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 191,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 14,351 shares during the period. M&G PLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $90,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LIN. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Linde by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,344,181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,558,016,000 after acquiring an additional 719,052 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Linde by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,162,409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,567,796,000 after purchasing an additional 373,012 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Linde by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,740,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,358,712,000 after purchasing an additional 64,078 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Linde by 28.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,624,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $805,475,000 after purchasing an additional 361,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Linde by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,370,361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $679,370,000 after purchasing an additional 85,360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock opened at $520.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $238.87 billion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $487.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $494.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $548.20.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $9.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.16 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.34% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.21 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Linde from $542.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Linde from $532.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, October 5th. Argus cut their price objective on Linde from $563.00 to $538.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Thursday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.05.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.91, for a total transaction of $4,851,808.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,487,629.58. This represents a 29.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Matthew White sold 86,833 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.21, for a total transaction of $45,258,227.93. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 50,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,442,546.93. This trade represents a 63.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Company Profile

Linde plc is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and supplies atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium and specialty gases. The company also designs and builds equipment and facilities used to produce and process gases.

Linde serves customers across industries including healthcare, manufacturing, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics and energy. Its operations span the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

The company was formed in 2018 through the merger of Germany’s Linde AG and U.S.-based Praxair, bringing together businesses with long histories in industrial gases and engineering.