Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Eastern Bank

Eastern Bank lowered its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 16.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,351 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 15,326 shares during the period. Eastern Bank's holdings in Linde were worth $36,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the first quarter worth about $5,509,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 94.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,296 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at about $99,000. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,692 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 9,985 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $518.80.

Linde Stock Down 0.2%

LIN traded down $0.85 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $459.41. 2,219,331 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,128,351. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $467.14 and a 200 day moving average of $457.33. The firm has a market cap of $216.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.85 EPS. Analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.57%.

Linde 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.