Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Sells 43 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,973 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 43 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,475 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 31.1% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 5,894 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,399 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 8.5% during the second quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 737 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Linde by 216.9% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 21,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,641,000 after purchasing an additional 15,042 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.75.

Linde Stock Down 0.1 %

LIN stock opened at $412.91 on Tuesday. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $396.07 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.61 billion, a PE ratio of 31.35, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $443.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $453.98.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. Linde’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors 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 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. 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.