Hancock Whitney Corp Acquires 277 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Hancock Whitney Corp increased its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 12.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at $8,136,996. This trade represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $456.60 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $467.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.00. Linde plc has a one year low of $396.07 and a one year high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

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.