Iowa State Bank Sells 54 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Iowa State Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. Iowa State Bank’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 7.9% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,839,000 after buying an additional 1,475 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 5,894 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,399 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 9.3% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 18,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 284.7% during the second quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 13,310 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,841,000 after buying an additional 9,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 737 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.75.

Linde Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $413.61. 811,544 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,625,474. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $396.07 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.41, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $445.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $454.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. Linde’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

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.