Independence Bank of Kentucky Acquires 957 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 84.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,086 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 957 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky's holdings in Linde were worth $873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Channel Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 7,385 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.2% during 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 in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Linde by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,898,000 after buying an additional 5,021 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Linde by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,975 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,215,000 after acquiring an additional 2,312 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $446.12 on Friday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $434.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $453.23. 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 $212.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.94. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup dropped their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock 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, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the company'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 transaction of $963,388.30. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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