Confluence Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Confluence Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 333,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,835 shares during the period. Linde makes up approximately 1.9% of Confluence Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned 0.07% of Linde worth $139,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 372.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,567,958,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 47,830.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $446,377,000 after purchasing an additional 934,123 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in Linde by 108.7% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Linde by 131.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $296,342,000 after purchasing an additional 353,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV raised its holdings in Linde by 78.2% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 598,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,523,000 after purchasing an additional 262,691 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.75.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded down $1.53 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $417.14. 260,617 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,892,777. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $447.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $454.46. 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. The firm has a market cap of $198.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results 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. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.