Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Has $30.24 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. cut its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,937 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 654 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Linde were worth $30,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in Linde by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business's 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 corporate insiders.

Linde Price Performance

LIN traded down $4.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $465.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,414,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,968,387. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $455.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $449.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Linde's payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.40.

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.