First National Trust Co Lowers Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

First National Trust Co decreased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 43,988 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,828 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Linde were worth $18,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,919,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,182,870,000 after buying an additional 354,506 shares during the last quarter. Winder Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,892,774,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,081,177 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,891,976,000 after purchasing an additional 123,174 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,960,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,102,475,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Linde by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,766,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,030,146,000 after purchasing an additional 9,541 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Mizuho increased their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $460.15.

Linde Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $3.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $423.60. 2,657,419 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,803,659. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $350.60 and a 1 year high of $477.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $455.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $422.69.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The company had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total value of $23,353,139.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,634 shares in the company, valued at $26,271,882.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Linde

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.