First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA Cuts Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA trimmed its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 70.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 483 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,150 shares during the quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA's holdings in Linde were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,598,551,000 after acquiring an additional 30,750 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,901,853,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,818,608 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,598,737,000 after acquiring an additional 265,455 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,105,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,300,092,000 after acquiring an additional 89,408 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Linde by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $898,188,000 after purchasing an additional 46,843 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $498.00.

Linde Price Performance

LIN traded down $6.25 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $448.36. 599,174 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,939,858. The company's 50-day moving average is $455.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $450.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $212.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Linde's payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

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.