Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 396,554 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 28,232 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.08% of Linde worth $166,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LIN. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 108.7% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its holdings in Linde by 1.7% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,440 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Linde by 16.8% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 60,292 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $28,751,000 after buying an additional 8,659 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,225,000 after buying an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd grew its position in shares of Linde by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 4,869 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,322,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related 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 value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % 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. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. 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. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $501.82.

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.