YHB Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 340 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,767 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 340 shares during the quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 372.8% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 47,830.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $446,377,000 after purchasing an additional 934,123 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Linde by 2,293.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,593,000 after purchasing an additional 749,763 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in Linde by 108.7% in 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 during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Linde by 131.6% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $296,342,000 after buying an additional 353,136 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $439.49 on Tuesday. 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 plc has a twelve month low of $396.07 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average of $435.45 and a 200-day moving average of $453.33.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.