Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Bought by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 67.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 226,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 91,035 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $108,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in Linde by 133.3% in the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of LIN stock opened at $435.30 on Friday. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $396.07 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $207.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $461.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $455.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.75.

About Linde

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.