Park National Corp OH Takes $13.70 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Park National Corp OH acquired a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 32,715 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $13,697,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter worth $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $490.75.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company's stock, valued at $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $5.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $420.01. The company had a trading volume of 2,251,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,439,953. The company has a market capitalization of $199.99 billion, a PE ratio of 31.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a one year low of $396.07 and a one year high of $487.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $441.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $453.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.63 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Linde's payout ratio is 42.22%.

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.