Trust Co. of Vermont Trims Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Trust Co. of Vermont cut its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 66 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 1,733.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their target price 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 increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.75.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN traded up $3.51 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $436.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,395,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,152,630. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $437.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $452.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.61 billion, a PE ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

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.