Eventide Asset Management LLC Acquires 5,420 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 40.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,808 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,420 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $8,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 180.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 49,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,758,000 after purchasing an additional 31,511 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 53.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 12,070 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,604,000 after buying an additional 4,226 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter worth about $221,000. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 35.4% during the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,769 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on LIN shares. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho raised their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a 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 $490.75.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The trade was a 36.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock opened at $460.99 on Friday. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $396.07 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company’s 50-day moving average is $467.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $454.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $219.50 billion, a PE ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.