Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Linde by 46.9% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 48,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,593,000 after purchasing an additional 15,393 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in Linde by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 8,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,750,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors increased its position in Linde by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 18,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,366,000 after acquiring an additional 3,437 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,041,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Linde by 4.4% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 2,312 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $455.29. 820,683 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,827,511. Linde plc has a one year low of $385.12 and a one year high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $473.04 and a 200 day moving average of $451.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.78, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $486.91.

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.