NBT Bank N A NY Sells 300 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

NBT Bank N A NY trimmed its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. NBT Bank N A NY’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Linde by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,127 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $891,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Argentarii LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth $242,000. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 5,023 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,103,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 7,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,936,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $468.77 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $444.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $455.24. The stock has a market cap of $221.69 billion, a PE ratio of 34.44, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. As a group, analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.09%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,377 shares of company stock worth $6,567,231. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

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.