ING Groep NV Lowers Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

ING Groep NV decreased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 554,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 43,909 shares during the period. Linde makes up 1.6% of ING Groep NV’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. ING Groep NV owned 0.12% of Linde worth $232,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Linde by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,973,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,217,197,000 after buying an additional 154,792 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $1,567,958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,592,682 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.7% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 50,882 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 56,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings 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 worth $898,188,000 after purchasing an additional 46,843 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,503 shares of company stock worth $4,306,843. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock opened at $462.07 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $220.02 billion, a PE ratio of 33.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $435.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $454.18.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reduced their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report 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 report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

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.