Boston Financial Mangement LLC Has $4.19 Million Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Boston Financial Mangement LLC grew its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,010 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 503 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in Linde by 108.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $252,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 737 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Linde by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,518,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BLB&B Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 17,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,334,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $462.07 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $435.96 and a 200-day moving average of $454.18. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $220.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.95, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of Linde 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 approximately $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 9,503 shares of company stock worth $4,306,843 in the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

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.