Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by National Pension Service

National Pension Service reduced its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 922,750 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 17,451 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.19% of Linde worth $386,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 154,792 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,592,682 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Linde by 1.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,015,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,438,154,000 after acquiring an additional 50,882 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.4% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 56,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Linde by 2.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 46,843 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,285 shares of company stock valued at $7,423,986 in the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $467.49 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $438.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $454.70. The company has a market capitalization of $222.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LIN. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

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.