First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services Acquires 1,283 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services lifted its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 9.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the period. Linde comprises approximately 1.5% of First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services’ holdings in Linde were worth $6,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 566.9% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,833,465 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $851,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558,538 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $420,720,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 47,830.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $446,377,000 after buying an additional 934,123 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Linde by 91.6% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 968,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $449,648,000 after buying an additional 463,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $210,480,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN traded up $3.36 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $460.67. 181,015 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,826,948. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $472.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $451.90. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $385.12 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $219.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.63 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at $8,136,996. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.75.

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.