Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Trims Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,233 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,272 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Linde were worth $6,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 16.9% during the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $652,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 1.3% in the third quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $873,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nwam LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 966 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN traded down $4.39 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $449.10. The company had a trading volume of 2,417,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,836,589. The company has a market capitalization of $213.84 billion, a PE ratio of 34.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $470.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $452.64.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The firm 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde's payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the business'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 transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The trade was a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays upped their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $490.75.

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.