Logan Capital Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Logan Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 7.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,217 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,215 shares during the period. Logan Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $7,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Linde by 6.7% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,021 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in Linde by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,975 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in Linde by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 196,036 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $93,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atom Investors LP boosted its position in Linde by 19.8% during the third quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 12,269 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,851,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

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

Linde Trading Down 0.7 %

LIN stock traded down $3.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $435.30. The company had a trading volume of 2,254,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,860,406. The business has a 50 day moving average of $461.53 and a 200 day moving average of $455.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $207.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $396.07 and a 52 week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 company 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde's payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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. Finally, Mizuho lifted 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $490.75.

Linde Company 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.