Logan Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,215 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Logan Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,215 shares during the period. Logan Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $7,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 133.3% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired 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 approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Down 0.7 %

LIN stock traded down $3.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $435.25. The stock had a trading volume of 209,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,851,794. The business has a 50-day moving average of $462.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $455.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $207.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

About Linde

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.