BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 24,187 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp decreased its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 14.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 144,958 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 24,187 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Linde were worth $69,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the second quarter worth $28,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 133.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Trading Up 0.8 %

LIN opened at $460.99 on Friday. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $467.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $454.23. The firm has a market cap of $219.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, November 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. This represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.