M&G Plc Purchases 2,252 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

M&G Plc grew its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 185,903 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,252 shares during the quarter. M&G Plc’s holdings in Linde were worth $81,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. First Pacific Financial bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 49.0% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Linde by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of LIN stock traded up $2.92 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $449.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,173,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,963,469. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $361.02 and a 12-month high of $477.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $440.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $441.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid 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 Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Linde from $475.00 to $477.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, HSBC cut their price objective on Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $484.18.

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.