Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 338,037 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 4,983 shares during the period. Linde comprises about 2.2% of Confluence Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Linde worth $161,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Linde by 46.9% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 48,211 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $20,593,000 after buying an additional 15,393 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in Linde by 40.7% during the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 8,075 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,750,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Linde by 23.6% during the first quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 18,017 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $8,366,000 after purchasing an additional 3,437 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Linde by 4.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,975 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 28.7% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,071 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,319,000 after purchasing an additional 4,479 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,136,996. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Linde stock traded down $5.99 during trading on Friday, hitting $459.48. 1,496,721 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,835,682. The stock has a market cap of $218.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $471.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $452.30. 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 plc has a 12-month low of $390.38 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.63 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upped their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $490.75.

About Linde

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.