Groupama Asset Managment Raises Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,073 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,738 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Linde were worth $8,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Linde by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 1.7% in the third quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 0.9% during the third quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $873,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Linde by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 445 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % 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. Also, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of Linde stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,136,996. The trade was a 36.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $490.75.

Linde Trading Up 0.2 %

LIN stock traded up $0.86 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $449.44. The company had a trading volume of 2,191,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,963,267. The stock has a market cap of $214.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.13, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $396.07 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $464.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $455.33.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 posted $3.63 earnings per share. Linde's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

About Linde

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.