Kestra Investment Management LLC Sells 1,431 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Kestra Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 41.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,985 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,431 shares during the quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $831,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 372.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,567,958,000 after buying an additional 2,592,682 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Linde by 47,830.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $446,377,000 after buying an additional 934,123 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Linde by 2,293.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $327,593,000 after buying an additional 749,763 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in Linde by 108.7% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Linde by 131.6% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $296,342,000 after purchasing an additional 353,136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,285 shares of company stock valued at $7,423,986 over the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup cut 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. Mizuho upped 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. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Linde Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ LIN traded down $3.90 during trading on Friday, reaching $458.00. 1,939,256 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,250,087. The firm has a market cap of $218.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $436.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $454.23.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share 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%. Analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current 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.