Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. Sells 621,890 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. trimmed its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 31.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,373,008 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 621,890 shares during the period. Linde comprises approximately 9.4% of Comgest Global Investors S.A.S.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. owned about 0.29% of Linde worth $654,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Down 1.0 %

LIN stock traded down $4.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $449.10. The stock had a trading volume of 2,417,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,836,589. 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 plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $470.08 and a 200 day moving average of $452.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.10, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.94.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.63 EPS. On average, equities 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at $8,136,996. This represents a 36.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $490.75.

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.