State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $73.47 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 175,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,021 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Linde were worth $73,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 38.6% during the 4th quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $457.00 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $434.82 and its 200-day moving average is $454.01. 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. The company has a market cap of $217.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LIN. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research 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 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.