Linde PLC $LIN Stock Holdings Trimmed by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC reduced its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,370 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises approximately 0.6% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $12,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LIN. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its stake in Linde by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 5,437 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,581,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank purchased a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $1,741,000. Moneco Advisors LLC grew its position in Linde by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Moneco Advisors LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Linde in the third quarter valued at $29,424,000. Finally, Keybank National Association OH acquired a new position in Linde in the third quarter valued at $20,502,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Linde from $574.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Linde from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Linde from $549.00 to $568.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Linde from $535.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Linde from $577.00 to $591.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.05.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.91, for a total transaction of $4,851,808.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,487,629.58. This represents a 29.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Matthew J. White sold 86,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.21, for a total transaction of $45,258,227.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 50,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,442,546.93. The trade was a 63.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $521.78 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $487.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $495.12. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $548.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $239.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.67.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $9.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.16 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.34% and a return on equity of 20.32%. Linde’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.21 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.89 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 42.52%.

About Linde

Linde plc is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and supplies atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium and specialty gases. The company also designs and builds equipment and facilities used to produce and process gases. Linde serves customers across industries including healthcare, manufacturing, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics and energy. Its operations span the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific.