Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Position Decreased by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,578,751 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 778,790 shares during the period. Linde comprises 1.2% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,090,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its stake in Linde by 13.2% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 495,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $236,162,000 after purchasing an additional 57,942 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 14,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,105,000 after buying an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,563,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 364.0% during the 3rd quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,481,000 after acquiring an additional 4,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Linde by 21.5% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,606 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,303,000 after acquiring an additional 3,824 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The trade was a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $450.14 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $469.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $453.12. The stock has a market cap of $214.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 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 plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.63 earnings per share. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

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.