Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Holdings Boosted by Oakworth Capital Inc.

Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 24.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 189 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $78,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $575,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory grew its position in shares of Linde by 4.2% during the third quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. grew its position in shares of Linde by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 2,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. Mizuho raised shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $456.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total transaction of $23,353,139.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 57,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,271,882.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total value of $23,353,139.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,271,882.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $446.79 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $452.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $417.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $215.17 billion, a PE ratio of 35.46, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $350.60 and a 1 year high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.13%.

Linde 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.