First Financial Corp IN Lowers Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

First Financial Corp IN lowered its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 53 shares during the quarter. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in Linde were worth $996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LIN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $2,409,138,000. Winder Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,892,774,000. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 888.7% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,741,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,329,889,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,112 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 55.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,457,759 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,780,213,000 after purchasing an additional 1,956,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde by 450.3% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,141,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $698,566,000 after buying an additional 1,752,456 shares in the last quarter. 80.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN traded up $1.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $468.24. 1,687,410 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,092,373. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $337.95 and a 1 year high of $477.71. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $434.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $407.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.10. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. HSBC lifted their target price on Linde from $440.00 to $447.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 24th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $434.00 to $503.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $443.79.

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.