Argent Trust Co Increases Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN)

Argent Trust Co lifted its stake in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 241 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,763,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its stake in Linde by 51.9% in the 1st quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 82 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 2,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC now owns 308 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Glassman Wealth Services boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 763 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 1,966 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.46, for a total transaction of $734,222.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,043,325.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 39,695 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.62, for a total value of $15,545,355.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 369,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $144,747,059.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 1,966 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.46, for a total transaction of $734,222.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,043,325.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of LIN stock traded up $0.35 on Wednesday, hitting $381.95. The stock had a trading volume of 165,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,855,631. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $380.32 and its 200-day moving average is $365.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.78. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $262.47 and a 52-week high of $393.67.

Linde (NYSE:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.70 billion. Linde had a net margin of 17.20% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 14.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $1.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 1st. This represents a $5.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on Linde from $375.00 to $415.00 in a report on Friday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Linde from $420.00 to $444.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Linde from $400.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Mizuho raised their target price on Linde from $382.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Linde in a research report on Tuesday, June 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $430.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $404.41.

Linde Company Profile

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia 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.