iA Global Asset Management Inc. Sells 237,125 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 57.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 176,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 237,125 shares during the period. Linde makes up approximately 1.5% of iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $84,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. This represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of LIN opened at $449.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $465.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $454.93. The firm has a market cap of $214.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.13, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.