Oakworth Capital Inc. Has $296,000 Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 55.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 49.0% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock opened at $480.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $229.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.95. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $361.02 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $470.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $450.68.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup raised their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America raised their target price on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $484.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.