New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Sells 600 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board decreased its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,936 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 600 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's holdings in Linde were worth $9,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA boosted its stake in Linde by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,999,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 14.3% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 192 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Fourpath Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $960,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN traded down $3.76 on Wednesday, reaching $462.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,883,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,288,375. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $435.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $454.12. The firm has a market cap of $220.02 billion, a PE ratio of 33.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho boosted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,503 shares of company stock valued at $4,306,843. Company 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.