Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Trims Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors reduced its Linde stake by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 4,369 shares and ending with 21,235 shares valued at about $9.05 million.
• Insiders also sold shares: VP Guillermo Bichara and EVP Sean Durbin both disclosed large stock sales on March 10, cutting their ownership positions by 16.44% and 44.44%, respectively.
• Linde posted solid results and guidance, beating first-quarter EPS and revenue estimates, while analysts remain broadly bullish with a consensus Buy rating and a $540 average price target.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,235 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 4,369 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $9,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Binnacle Investments Inc grew its position in shares of Linde by 10.2% during the second quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 237 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,102 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Blalock Williams LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Blalock Williams LLC now owns 510 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA grew its position in shares of Linde by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA now owns 711 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mayport LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Mayport LLC now owns 504 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during 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 Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total value of $2,094,802.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total value of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Seaport Research Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $540.00.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $514.97 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $500.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $463.85. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $521.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $238.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.73.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The company had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.95 earnings per share. Linde's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.50%.

About Linde

Linde NASDAQ: LIN is a multinational industrial gases and engineering company that supplies gases, related technologies and services to a wide range of industries. The company traces its current form to the 2018 combination of Germany's Linde AG and U.S.-based Praxair, creating one of the largest global providers of industrial, specialty and medical gases. Linde's business model centers on production, processing and distribution of gases as well as the design and construction of the plants and equipment needed to produce them.

Core products and services include atmospheric and process gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon; hydrogen and helium; carbon dioxide; and a portfolio of higher‑value specialty and electronic gases.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LIN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.