Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Buys 261 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in Linde by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Linde by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 60,292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,751,000 after purchasing an additional 8,659 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $212,000. Kowal Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Good Life Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $255,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock opened at $457.00 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $434.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $453.94. The company has a market capitalization of $217.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.58, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.55 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,503 shares of company stock valued at $4,306,843 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.