Private Trust Co. NA Sells 87 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Private Trust Co. NA reduced its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,544 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $951,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 1.9% in the third quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Seven Mile Advisory raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.2% during the third quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 2,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded up $6.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $463.89. 306,771 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,328,282. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.68, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $444.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $412.55. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $350.60 and a 52 week high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Linde news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on LIN. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Linde from $503.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $448.93.

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.