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

Confluence Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 333,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,835 shares during the period. Linde makes up 1.9% of Confluence Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $139,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in shares of Linde by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 1,733.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 618.8% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during 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 news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.75.

Linde Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded down $1.53 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $417.14. 260,617 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,892,777. The business has a 50 day moving average of $447.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $454.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $396.07 and a 1 year high of $487.49. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted 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 company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

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.