M&T Bank Corp Trims Stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 74,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,423 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Linde were worth $34,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Exane Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter worth $295,000. May Hill Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 658 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 1,402 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Hourglass Capital LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 1st quarter worth $935,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 117,861 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $54,881,000 after buying an additional 4,564 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $469.95. 1,627,213 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,969,187. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $461.97 and a 200-day moving average of $451.76. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $221.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.13, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.75 EPS. The business's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $515.90.

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.