UMB Bank n.a. Sells 1,487 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

UMB Bank n.a. reduced its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,487 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.'s holdings in Linde were worth $34,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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 note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lifted 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. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $495.75.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock traded up $3.51 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $436.00. 2,395,144 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,152,630. The company has a market cap of $207.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $436.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $453.12. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % 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, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.