Factory Mutual Insurance Co. Purchases 12,300 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Factory Mutual Insurance Co. lifted its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 88,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,300 shares during the period. Factory Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings in Linde were worth $37,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Linde by 4.6% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 51,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,487,000 after purchasing an additional 2,231 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Linde by 8.9% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH grew its stake in Linde by 5.2% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 1,031 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in Linde by 5.5% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,489 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Boltwood Capital Management purchased a new stake in Linde in the third quarter worth $202,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $446.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $212.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.87, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $396.07 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $434.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $453.17.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.