BDF Gestion Reduces Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

BDF Gestion cut its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,947 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,553 shares during the quarter. BDF Gestion’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value 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 $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % 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 corporate insiders.

Linde Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of LIN opened at $438.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. Linde plc has a one year low of $396.07 and a one year high of $487.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $435.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $453.33. The company has a market capitalization of $208.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho upped their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. 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 MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.