First American Bank Boosts Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

First American Bank grew its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 913 shares during the quarter. First American Bank’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Linde by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,086,000 after acquiring an additional 408,659 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth about $252,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its position in Linde by 21.2% in the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,961 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $935,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its position in Linde by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,131,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,285 shares of company stock worth $7,423,986. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $460.28 on Friday. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $410.69 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $219.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $439.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.79.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

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.