Boston Trust Walden Corp Acquires New Shares in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden initiated a position in Linde, buying 55,958 shares in the third quarter valued at approximately $26.56 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.8% of the company.
• Linde beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting EPS of $4.59 and revenue of $9.40 billion; revenue rose 9.3% year over year.
• Linde announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share, equivalent to $6.40 annually and a 1.2% yield. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with a $553.05 average price target.

Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 55,958 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $26,560,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Linde by 3.7% in 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 boosted its position in Linde by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,162,409 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,567,796,000 after acquiring an additional 373,012 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Linde by 2.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 64,078 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in 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 valued at $805,475,000 after acquiring an additional 361,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew 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 Activity

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 22,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,487,629.58. This trade represents a 29.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN stock opened at $521.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $239.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.67. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $548.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $485.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $493.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Linde had a net margin of 19.34% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The business had revenue of $9.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.21 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho set a $583.00 price objective on Linde in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Berenberg Bank restated a "buy" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Linde from $574.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Argus reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $563.00 to $538.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $580.00 price target on shares of Linde and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $553.05.

Linde Profile

Linde plc NASDAQ: LIN is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and distributes atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and specialty gases. The company serves customers through packaged gases, bulk deliveries, on-site production and pipeline systems.

Linde's products and services support a broad range of industries, including healthcare, food and beverage, manufacturing, chemicals, energy, refining, electronics and metals.

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