Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Buys 42 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,714 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for 1.5% of Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $6,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the second quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Linde during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Trading Down 1.0 %

LIN opened at $449.10 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $470.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $452.64. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $213.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.94. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.63 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Mizuho increased 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.