Wesbanco Bank Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,842 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $12,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wrapmanager Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in Linde by 34.9% during the fourth 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. Austin Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Linde by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $472.71 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business's 50 day moving average is $452.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $448.51. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $222.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.73, a PEG 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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.75 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $503.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on 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 now owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.

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