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

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

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Linde by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,344,181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,558,016,000 after acquiring an additional 719,052 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Linde by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,162,409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,567,796,000 after purchasing an additional 373,012 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,740,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,358,712,000 after purchasing an additional 64,078 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 28.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,624,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $805,475,000 after purchasing an additional 361,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,370,361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $679,370,000 after purchasing an additional 85,360 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.91, for a total value of $4,851,808.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $11,487,629.58. This represents a 29.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 50,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,442,546.93. This represents 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. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $521.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.67. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $548.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $487.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $495.12.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.21 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be given a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LIN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Linde from $535.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings cut Linde from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Linde from $542.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $553.05.

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.