James Investment Research Inc. Has $4.28 Million Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

James Investment Research Inc. lowered its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 202 shares during the quarter. James Investment Research Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $457.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $217.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $434.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $453.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

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 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,503 shares of company stock worth $4,306,843. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Linde Company 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.