Banque Pictet & Cie SA Sells 8,577 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA cut its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 107,622 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,577 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Linde were worth $45,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted 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 worth $374,086,000 after buying an additional 408,659 shares during the period. CX Institutional increased its position in Linde by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its position in Linde by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 60,292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,751,000 after buying an additional 8,659 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in Linde by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,225,000 after buying an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its position in Linde by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 4,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,322,000 after buying an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,503 shares of company stock worth $4,306,843. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $461.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $219.53 billion, a PE ratio of 33.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $434.42 and its 200 day moving average is $453.89. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.55 earnings per share for the current year.

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.