New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 5,000 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 638,101 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Linde were worth $267,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LIN. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in Linde by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,086,000 after acquiring an additional 408,659 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $252,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 2,566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Linde by 8.9% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 737 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $465.83 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $435.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $454.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $221.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen upgraded 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,503 shares of company stock valued at $4,306,843. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.