Northern Financial Advisors Inc Trims Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Northern Financial Advisors Inc trimmed its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 18.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 234 shares during the period. Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Linde were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position 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. bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, 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 accessible through 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 transaction of $963,388.30. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,503 shares of company stock valued at $4,306,843 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $461.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $219.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $434.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $453.89. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four investment 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 company currently has an average 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.