American Trust Reduces Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

American Trust cut its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 75.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,618 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 10,862 shares during the quarter. American Trust's holdings in Linde were worth $1,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Linde by 1.9% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 13,239 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,809,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 7,799 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,422,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Linde by 56.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,378 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,497,000 after acquiring an additional 1,948 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Linde by 12.0% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 5,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Timber Creek Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Linde by 1.3% during the second quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 9,936 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,360,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:LIN traded down $3.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $435.30. The company had a trading volume of 2,254,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,860,406. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $462.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $455.24. The company has a market capitalization of $207.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $396.07 and a 52 week high of $487.49.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde's payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LIN. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $490.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company's stock, valued at $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

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.