Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $525.66 Million Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,255,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 14,136 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $525,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in Linde by 144.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its position in Linde by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,503 shares of company stock valued at $4,306,843. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $457.00 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $217.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $434.82 and a 200 day moving average of $454.01. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on LIN. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.