Eastern Bank Invests $44.96 Million in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 94,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,961,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,663 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,608,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 6.8% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,518,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 55.8% during the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank increased its holdings in Linde by 8.4% in the third quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 3,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 8.9% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 737 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $2.21 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $481.15. 364,656 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,821,734. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $470.37 and a 200 day moving average of $450.68. The company has a market cap of $229.75 billion, a PE ratio of 36.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $361.02 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.52 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Barclays increased their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $484.18.

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.