Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,100 shares during the period. Linde comprises approximately 0.5% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Linde were worth $25,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 16.9% in the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Linde by 1.3% during the third quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA increased its holdings in Linde by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,999,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Fourpath Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,732,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LIN. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their price objective 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. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $460.74 on Wednesday. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $434.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $453.79. The company has a market capitalization of $219.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.85, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.89.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, 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 company insiders.

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.