Fiera Capital Corp Sells 27,310 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Fiera Capital Corp cut its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 446,865 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 27,310 shares during the quarter. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Linde were worth $187,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,503 shares of company stock worth $4,306,843 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of LIN opened at $458.56 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $434.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $453.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $218.35 billion, a PE ratio of 33.69, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.