Moody National Bank Trust Division Cuts Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Moody National Bank Trust Division reduced its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Linde during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 1,733.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 618.8% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $7.82 on Monday, reaching $421.97. 996,300 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,253,177. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $200.92 billion, a PE ratio of 32.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average is $439.96 and its 200-day moving average is $453.30. 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 results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.63 EPS. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday. Citigroup cut their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was 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 directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.