Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stake Reduced by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 26.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,644 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,840 shares during the period. Linde makes up 0.6% of Everence Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $9,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 6.7% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,580,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in Linde by 4.4% during 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 buying an additional 2,312 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 196,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $93,457,000 after buying an additional 1,811 shares during the period. Finally, Atom Investors LP increased its position in shares of Linde by 19.8% in the third quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 12,269 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,851,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $415.45. The stock had a trading volume of 318,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,192,471. Linde plc has a one year low of $396.07 and a one year high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $197.82 billion, a PE ratio of 31.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $446.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $454.18. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the company posted $3.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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