Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Position Reduced by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,255,549 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 14,136 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.26% of Linde worth $525,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LIN. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position 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 worth $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 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 worth $28,751,000 after purchasing an additional 8,659 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $255,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $252,000. Finally, Stratos Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 9.3% in the third quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 980 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $467,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 9,503 shares of company stock valued at $4,306,843 over the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $461.90. 1,334,477 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,259,478. The stock's fifty day moving average is $435.96 and its 200 day moving average is $454.18. The stock has a market cap of $219.94 billion, a PE ratio of 33.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LIN. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lifted their price target 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. Erste Group Bank restated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.