Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Lowers Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. reduced its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,234 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 185 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $6,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $460.74 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $434.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $453.79. The stock has a market cap of $219.39 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. As a group, analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.