Cambridge Trust Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Cambridge Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 100,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,423 shares during the period. Linde comprises approximately 1.7% of Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Linde were worth $41,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $575,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 1.9% in the third quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory increased its position in shares of Linde by 4.2% in the third quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. increased its position in shares of Linde by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 2,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Mizuho raised shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $456.79.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total value of $3,837,704.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,058,131.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ LIN traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $445.83. 530,000 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,249,708. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $350.60 and a 12 month high of $477.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.70 billion, a PE ratio of 35.46, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average of $452.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $417.56.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.10. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.13%.

About Linde

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.