Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Has $5.91 Million Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lowered its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 374 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Provence Wealth Management Group grew its stake in Linde by 655.7% during the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth $203,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co bought a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $1,480,000. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,045,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total transaction of $23,353,139.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 57,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,271,882.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 77,948 shares of company stock valued at $35,687,605. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $427.71 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $454.81 and a 200-day moving average of $424.19. Linde plc has a one year low of $350.60 and a one year high of $477.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $205.59 billion, a PE ratio of 33.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. HSBC lowered their price target on shares of Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Wolfe Research began coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Citigroup downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $464.69.

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.