STF Management LP Decreases Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

STF Management LP cut its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,963 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 713 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up 1.5% of STF Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. STF Management LP’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the second quarter worth $28,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at $43,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in Linde in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 133.3% in the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 36.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on LIN. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.75.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $453.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $216.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.45, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $468.82 and its 200 day moving average is $453.12. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $396.07 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. Linde’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

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.