CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Has $345.76 Million Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC cut its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 823,220 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 18,991 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC owned 0.17% of Linde worth $345,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $507,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.0% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 17,942 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,556,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Linde by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 2,826 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,348,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 40.5% during the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 18,808 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $8,969,000 after buying an additional 5,420 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $469.89. 909,753 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,876,704. The company has a market cap of $222.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.53, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $457.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $454.23. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LIN. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $501.82.

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.