Wellington Management Group LLP Reduces Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,587,639 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 134,927 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 1.38% of Linde worth $3,141,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of 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. Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 196,036 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $93,457,000 after buying an additional 1,811 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 51,540 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $22,616,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc lifted its position in shares of Linde by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 185,903 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $81,611,000 after buying an additional 2,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $490.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock traded up $0.86 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $449.44. 2,190,567 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,909,659. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $465.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $454.93. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $214.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.13, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. Linde's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.