Diversified Trust Co Acquires 76 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 76 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New Hampshire raised its holdings in Linde by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 194 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,065 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,702,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Linde by 38.6% during the 4th quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $898,188,000 after buying an additional 46,843 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $414.95 on Wednesday. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $396.07 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $442.61 and its 200 day moving average is $453.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reduced their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company 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. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.75.

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.