Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Position Raised by Community Trust & Investment Co.

Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,287 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,421 shares during the period. Linde accounts for about 1.5% of Community Trust & Investment Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Linde were worth $23,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. One Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Linde by 71.9% during the second quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 1,095 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in shares of Linde by 34.1% during the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $950,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in Linde by 72.3% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 10,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,669,000 after purchasing an additional 4,465 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Linde by 0.6% during the second quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 66,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,350,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plancorp LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 1,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $427.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $203.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.44, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $438.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $453.08. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $396.07 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.63 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday. Mizuho lifted their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.75.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % 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 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.