Patton Fund Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Patton Fund Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,542 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 369 shares during the quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Naviter Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 3.3% in the third quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 6,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,232,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $211,000. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Linde by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,183,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Finally, AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC now owns 5,060 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,413,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on LIN. Bank of America lifted their target price on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $484.18.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $484.87. The stock had a trading volume of 278,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,831,611. The company has a market cap of $233.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $468.07 and a 200 day moving average of $450.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.95. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $361.02 and a 1 year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

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.