Fmr LLC Has $6.45 Billion Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Fmr LLC lowered its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,518,771 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 117,796 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned about 2.84% of Linde worth $6,446,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Linde in the second quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Linde during the third quarter worth $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The trade was a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ LIN opened at $455.69 on Tuesday. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $468.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $453.84. 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 capitalization of $216.98 billion, a PE ratio of 34.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.