Synovus Financial Corp Reduces Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Synovus Financial Corp cut its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 23,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,138 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Linde were worth $11,401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Linde by 6.7% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Linde by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,215,000 after buying an additional 2,312 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,580,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Linde by 0.9% during the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 196,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $93,457,000 after buying an additional 1,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atom Investors LP raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 19.8% in the third quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 12,269 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,851,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock opened at $435.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $461.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $455.24. Linde plc has a one year low of $396.07 and a one year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho upped their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus 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.