First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services Has $7.15 Million Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services grew its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,350 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,061 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for about 1.7% of First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services' investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services' holdings in Linde were worth $7,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,616 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,351,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,164 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN traded up $3.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $475.56. 1,857,989 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,963,860. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $452.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $448.63. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.11.

Linde Company 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.