Sovran Advisors LLC Takes Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 829 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,503 shares of company stock valued at $4,306,843 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock opened at $458.56 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $434.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $453.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.69, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. 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 one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.55 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on LIN. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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 report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.