Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Position Reduced by Canoe Financial LP

Canoe Financial LP lowered its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,838 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,298 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP's holdings in Linde were worth $16,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $34,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $495.75.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $3.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $436.00. 2,395,144 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,152,630. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $436.85 and a 200-day moving average of $452.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The business's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde's payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 owns 25,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

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.