Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Position Cut by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR trimmed its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in Linde by 108.7% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,086,000 after buying an additional 408,659 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its position in shares of Linde by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,570 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 52.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 1,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $460.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $219.44 billion, a PE ratio of 33.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $434.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $453.66.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LIN. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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.