Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Keybank National Association OH

Keybank National Association OH trimmed its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,297 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 551 shares during the quarter. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Linde were worth $20,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on LIN shares. Citigroup upgraded Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 price objective on the stock. Argus upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.90.

Linde Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ LIN opened at $477.17 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $224.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.96. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $460.47 and a 200-day moving average of $450.38.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

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.