Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 8,788 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 201,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,788 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Linde were worth $84,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Linde by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,973,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,217,197,000 after buying an additional 154,792 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 372.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,567,958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,592,682 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Linde by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,015,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,438,154,000 after buying an additional 50,882 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in Linde by 2.4% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,130,986,000 after buying an additional 56,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Linde by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $898,188,000 after buying an additional 46,843 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $462.07 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $220.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $435.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $454.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 9,503 shares of company stock worth $4,306,843 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

About Linde

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.