Community Trust & Investment Co. Increases Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,287 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,421 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for about 1.5% of Community Trust & Investment Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Community Trust & Investment Co.'s holdings in Linde were worth $23,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 372.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,567,958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,592,682 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Linde by 47,830.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $446,377,000 after acquiring an additional 934,123 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $374,086,000 after acquiring an additional 408,659 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Linde by 131.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $296,342,000 after acquiring an additional 353,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 78.2% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 598,757 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $285,523,000 after purchasing an additional 262,691 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $495.75.

Linde Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of LIN stock traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $427.98. The stock had a trading volume of 2,202,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,468,112. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.79 billion, a PE ratio of 32.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $438.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $453.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. Linde's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.63 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company's 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

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.