Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Holdings Decreased by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,202,894 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 17,173 shares during the period. Linde comprises about 3.9% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Linde were worth $573,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Linde by 4.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 28.7% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,071 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,319,000 after buying an additional 4,479 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Linde by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 51,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,616,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Linde by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 196,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $93,457,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc increased its position in shares of Linde by 1.2% in the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 185,903 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $81,611,000 after acquiring an additional 2,252 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $454.78 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $468.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $453.66. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $216.55 billion, a PE ratio of 34.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LIN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho upped their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.75.

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.