Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. Sells 594,489 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. trimmed its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 43.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 778,519 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 594,489 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up approximately 5.3% of Comgest Global Investors S.A.S.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. owned about 0.16% of Linde worth $325,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. increased its position in Linde by 85.2% during the fourth quarter. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Channel Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 7,385 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,092,000 after buying an additional 1,723 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Linde by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $898,188,000 after acquiring an additional 46,843 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $88,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $625,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $498.00.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded up $4.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $452.12. 1,726,051 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,946,714. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $455.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $451.21.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. On average, analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.09%.

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.