Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC Trims Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 120,069 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,102 shares during the period. Linde makes up about 3.1% of Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $50,269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth approximately $252,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Linde by 6.7% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its stake in Linde by 5.3% in the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 2,566 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,224,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 8.9% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 737 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded up $1.92 during trading on Friday, hitting $463.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 178,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,198,024. 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 company has a market cap of $220.85 billion, a PE ratio of 34.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $436.43 and a 200-day moving average of $454.23. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have 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.