Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Has $21.66 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 45,422 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,705 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $21,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LIN. Retirement Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 49.0% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth about $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock traded down $2.73 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $483.72. 540,521 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,826,385. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.51 billion, a PE ratio of 37.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $361.02 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $469.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $450.50.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.57 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on LIN. Bank of America raised their price target on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $484.18.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.