Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 67.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,863 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 81,489 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Linde were worth $18,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the second quarter worth $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Linde in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Linde during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on LIN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value 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. The trade was a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock opened at $450.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.34 billion, a PE ratio of 34.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a one year low of $396.07 and a one year high of $487.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $469.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $453.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. 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 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

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.