Renasant Bank Purchases 648 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Renasant Bank raised its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 49.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Renasant Bank’s holdings in Linde were worth $817,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $252,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in shares of Linde by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,130,986,000 after buying an additional 56,775 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 3.1% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,736 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $828,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth $1,280,000. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its position in shares of Linde by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 1,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,377 shares of company stock valued at $6,567,231 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $453.26 on Friday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $447.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $455.12. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $410.69 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $214.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

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.