Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Legacy Private Trust Co.

Legacy Private Trust Co. lessened its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,936 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 247 shares during the period. Legacy Private Trust Co.’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Linde by 372.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,567,958,000 after buying an additional 2,592,682 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 47,830.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $446,377,000 after acquiring an additional 934,123 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of Linde by 108.7% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 131.6% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $296,342,000 after purchasing an additional 353,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV boosted its position in shares of Linde by 78.2% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 598,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $285,523,000 after purchasing an additional 262,691 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup dropped their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.75.

Linde Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of LIN stock traded up $5.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $420.01. The company had a trading volume of 2,130,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,407,838. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $442.61 and a 200 day moving average of $453.78. The firm has a market cap of $199.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.