Eastern Bank Acquires 392 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Eastern Bank grew its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 94,677 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Linde were worth $39,639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $652,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $7.35 during trading on Monday, hitting $421.50. 1,375,531 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,298,786. The company has a market cap of $200.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $439.96 and a 200 day moving average of $453.30. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. 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. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.