Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by BDF Gestion

BDF Gestion trimmed its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,947 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,553 shares during the period. BDF Gestion’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its stake in Linde by 34.2% during the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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 increased their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $438.32 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $435.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $453.33. The stock has a market cap of $208.71 billion, a PE ratio of 33.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.