Bedrijfstakpensioenfonds Voor DE Media PNO Trims Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Bedrijfstakpensioenfonds Voor DE Media PNO decreased its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,700 shares during the quarter. Bedrijfstakpensioenfonds Voor DE Media PNO’s holdings in Linde were worth $6,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in Linde by 144.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on LIN. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.75.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other 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 $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Trading Up 1.5 %

Linde stock opened at $442.46 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $436.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $453.14. The company has a market cap of $210.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.94. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $3.63 EPS. Analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Linde Company 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.