WoodTrust Financial Corp Reduces Holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

WoodTrust Financial Corp trimmed its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,065 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 112 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter worth about $103,000. Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 39.5% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 2,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter worth about $203,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Linde by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 208,854 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $97,251,000 after purchasing an additional 13,262 shares during the period. Finally, Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC now owns 6,074 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,828,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $459.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $216.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.94. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $457.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $449.18.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 price target for the company. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.40.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This 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.

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.