Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC decreased its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 250,743 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,975 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Linde worth $104,979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $1,567,958,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 47,830.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $446,377,000 after purchasing an additional 934,123 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 2,293.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $327,593,000 after purchasing an additional 749,763 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in shares of 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 shares of Linde by 131.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $296,342,000 after purchasing an additional 353,136 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on 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 reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 research 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 stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock traded up $8.83 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $465.83. 2,808,502 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,301,429. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $435.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $454.04.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 predict that Linde plc will post 16.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,503 shares of company stock valued at $4,306,843. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Linde Company 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.