Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $15.97 Million Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 33,489 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,736 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems' holdings in Linde were worth $15,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Linde by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,449,218 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,513,551,000 after purchasing an additional 15,187 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 7.6% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,112,160 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,365,647,000 after buying an additional 218,746 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in shares of Linde by 2.4% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,130,986,000 after acquiring an additional 56,775 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 8.7% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,993,820 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $874,908,000 after acquiring an additional 160,355 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Linde by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,953,147 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $906,730,000 after acquiring an additional 23,155 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN traded down $4.39 on Friday, reaching $449.10. The stock had a trading volume of 2,417,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,836,589. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $213.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $470.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $452.64. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. Linde's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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 $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,136,996. This trade represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on LIN. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $490.75.

Linde 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.