Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Holdings Decreased by Rockland Trust Co.

Rockland Trust Co. lowered its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,704 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,581 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.'s holdings in Linde were worth $11,599,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,535 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,992,000 after buying an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 56,287 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $23,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,421 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $436,000. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 2,669 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,117,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, Ayrshire Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC now owns 13,414 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on LIN. Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $495.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of LIN traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $427.98. 2,202,255 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,468,112. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $438.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $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. The company has a market cap of $203.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.63 EPS. Linde's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.