J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Decreases Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,257 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 52 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Linde by 85.2% during the fourth quarter. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Channel Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 7,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Linde by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,021 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Linde by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $898,188,000 after purchasing an additional 46,843 shares during the period. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth $625,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $457.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.61 billion, a PE ratio of 33.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50-day moving average is $434.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $454.01. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s 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 approximately $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,503 shares of company stock worth $4,306,843. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average 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.