Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,235,641 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 226,335 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.89% of Linde worth $2,023,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 372.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,567,958,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 47,830.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $446,377,000 after purchasing an additional 934,123 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 108.7% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Linde by 131.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $296,342,000 after buying an additional 353,136 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in Linde by 78.2% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 598,757 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $285,523,000 after buying an additional 262,691 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $490.75.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded down $3.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $435.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,227,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,860,344. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $462.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $455.24. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. 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 firm has a market cap of $207.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.63 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 233 shares of the company's stock, valued at $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.