Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Raises Stock Position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,433 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,289 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $23,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LIN. North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LIN. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $518.80.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the vice president owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 owned by company insiders.

Linde Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $1.32 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $459.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 640,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,967,385. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $464.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $453.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

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.