Missouri Trust & Investment Co Has $452,000 Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Missouri Trust & Investment Co lifted its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,080 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 120 shares during the quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co’s holdings in Linde were worth $452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in Linde by 144.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $442.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $436.44 and a 200 day moving average of $453.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $210.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on LIN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho lifted their price target 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. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.75.

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.