MML Investors Services LLC Purchases 924 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,800 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 924 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $17,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Linde by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 126,110 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $52,798,000 after buying an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The grew its stake in Linde by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 74,957 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,382,000 after buying an additional 3,016 shares during the last quarter. Ossiam grew its stake in Linde by 1,248.0% in the 4th quarter. Ossiam now owns 215,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $90,109,000 after buying an additional 199,260 shares during the last quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC grew its stake in Linde by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 8,291 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,471,000 after buying an additional 1,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA boosted its holdings in Linde by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 141,556 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $59,265,000 after purchasing an additional 27,262 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded down $1.13 on Friday, reaching $448.40. 1,865,299 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,950,652. The firm has a market cap of $212.05 billion, a PE ratio of 32.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm's 50 day moving average is $454.36 and its 200-day moving average is $450.24. Linde plc has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $498.00.

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.