Essex LLC Sells 791 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Essex LLC decreased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,940 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 791 shares during the quarter. Essex LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $455.05 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $434.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $453.55. The firm has a market cap of $216.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.43, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year 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 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%. Research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.55 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lowered their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Linde 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.