Linde PLC $LIN Stock Holdings Lifted by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC boosted its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 106,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $50,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Linde by 3.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,344,181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,558,016,000 after buying an additional 719,052 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised 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 valued at $1,567,796,000 after buying an additional 373,012 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised 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 valued at $1,358,712,000 after buying an additional 64,078 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 28.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 361,664 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,370,361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $679,370,000 after acquiring an additional 85,360 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Linde Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of LIN opened at $520.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $238.87 billion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.67. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $548.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $487.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $494.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Linde from $549.00 to $568.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Linde from $542.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Argus decreased their price target on Linde from $563.00 to $538.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.05.

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.