Iowa State Bank Cuts Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Iowa State Bank lessened its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 54 shares during the quarter. Iowa State Bank’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Linde by 7.9% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 31.1% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 5,894 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,399 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its position in shares of Linde by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 18,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 284.7% during the 2nd quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 13,310 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,841,000 after acquiring an additional 9,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC raised its stake in Linde by 8.5% during the second quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 737 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Linde stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $413.61. 811,544 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,625,474. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $445.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $454.18. The stock has a market cap of $196.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.75.

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.