Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 250,743 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,975 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned about 0.05% of Linde worth $104,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in Linde by 16.8% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 60,292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,751,000 after acquiring an additional 8,659 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in Linde by 13.1% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,225,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd raised its position in Linde by 20.5% in the third quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 4,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,322,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $461.05 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $434.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $453.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $410.69 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $219.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.88, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,503 shares of company stock worth $4,306,843. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lowered 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. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

About Linde

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.