Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s 9th Largest Position

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 35,863 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 863 shares during the period. Linde accounts for approximately 0.9% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $14,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 122.6% in the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $446.11. The stock had a trading volume of 540,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,234,188. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $453.35 and a 200 day moving average of $417.76. The stock has a market cap of $214.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $350.60 and a 52-week high of $477.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.13%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on LIN. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $456.79.

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.