Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Increases Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. increased its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,714 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 42 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for approximately 1.5% of Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $6,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Linde by 46.9% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 48,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,593,000 after acquiring an additional 15,393 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 40.7% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 8,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,337 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 4.4% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 2,312 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 28.7% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,071 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,319,000 after acquiring an additional 4,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,564 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.75.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. This trade represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of LIN opened at $449.10 on Friday. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $470.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $452.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.10, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

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.