Huntington National Bank Buys 7,963 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 196,605 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,963 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank's holdings in Linde were worth $82,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 4,526 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,896,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth $2,411,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Linde by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,609 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,604,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in Linde by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,235 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,287,000 after purchasing an additional 4,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $258,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 in the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded down $15.78 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $422.19. The company had a trading volume of 1,848,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,894,233. The company has a market capitalization of $199.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $458.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $453.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $410.25 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Linde's payout ratio is 44.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LIN. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $501.82.

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.