Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 10,939 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 380,465 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,939 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $181,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the second quarter worth $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Down 0.2 %

Linde stock opened at $455.59 on Wednesday. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $395.00 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $471.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $452.49. The stock has a market cap of $216.93 billion, a PE ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.63 EPS. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of Linde 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on LIN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays upped their target price on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.75.

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.