Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,713 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,526 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $10,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 16.9% in the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,290,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $873,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.0 %

LIN stock opened at $442.60 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $436.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $453.18. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $210.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on LIN. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.