Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Global X Japan Co. Ltd.

Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,096 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Linde were worth $459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in Linde by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 58,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,460,000 after acquiring an additional 3,448 shares in the last quarter. Telligent Fund LP acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,014,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ledyard National Bank grew its position in Linde by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 4,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,952,000 after buying an additional 1,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leo Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 915 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $460.68 on Friday. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $219.36 billion, a PE ratio of 34.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $434.41 and a 200-day moving average of $453.44.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released 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 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target 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 price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

About Linde

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.