MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Has $659,000 Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,575 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Linde were worth $659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. DLK Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Linde by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 7,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,281,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,969,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,758 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,573,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Linde by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $931,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Terra Nova Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $639,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $442.46 on Wednesday. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month 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’s 50 day moving average is $436.44 and its 200 day moving average is $453.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.68 billion, a PE ratio of 33.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lifted 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. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.75.

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.