Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by TCW Group Inc.

TCW Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,606 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $30,816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the second quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $444.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $211.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $464.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $455.40. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $396.07 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.63 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.