CNB Bank Decreases Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

CNB Bank reduced its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 823 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. CNB Bank’s holdings in Linde were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Heirloom Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Heirloom Wealth Management now owns 26,557 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,907,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the period. Geneva Partners LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of LIN traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $446.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,831,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,488,572. The firm has a market cap of $214.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $453.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $418.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $350.60 and a 52-week high of $477.71.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on LIN. UBS Group lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Mizuho raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $456.79.

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.