State of Alaska Department of Revenue Lowers Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue decreased its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,288 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,634 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Linde were worth $22,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,467,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 17,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,186,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $440,000. Country Club Bank grew its position in shares of Linde by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Country Club Bank now owns 4,640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,938,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 134,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,642,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $453.70 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.03 billion, a PE ratio of 34.45, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $410.69 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $434.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $453.44.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, 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 transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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